3  1822005450630 


LIBRARY 

JNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIEGO 


JNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822005450630 


F 


MAY  2  6  1991 


190 


Centra!  University  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall  after  two  weeks.  .      ^ 

Date  Due 


Cl  39  (1/91) 


UCSDLib. 


f  rontcnac  5£txition 


FRANCIS    PARKMAN'S   WORKS 

VOLUME   THREE 


Madame  de  la  Peltrie. 


jTrmttemcc  (gFEftttcrit 
The 

Jesuits  in  North  America 

in  the 

Seventeenth  Century 

[France  and  England  in  North  America 
Part  Second} 

BY 
FRANCIS    PARKMAN 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES 
VOLUME  ONE 


BOSTON:  LITTLE,  BROWN,  &  CO. 
CHICAGO   AND    ST.  LOUIS 

E.  HOLD  O WAT  AND    COMPANY 
1901 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1867, 
BY  FRANCIS  PARKMAN, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District 

of  Massachusetts. 

Copyright  1895, 
BY  GRACE  P.  COFFIN  AND  KATHERINE  S.  COOLIDGE. 

Copyright,  1897, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,   CAMBRIDGE.   U.S.  A. 


PREFACE. 


FEW  passages  of  history  are  more  striking 
than  those  which  record  the  efforts  of  the  earlier 
French  Jesuits  to  convert  the  Indians.  Full  as 
they  are  of  dramatic  and  philosophic  interest, 
bearing  strongly  on  the  political  destinies  of 
America,  and  closely  involved  with  the  history 
of  its  native  population,  it  is  wonderful  that 
they  have  been  left  so  long  in  obscurity.  While 
the  infant  colonies  of  England  still  clung  feebly 
to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  events  deeply 
ominous  to  their  future  were  in  progress,  un- 
known to  them,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  con- 
tinent. It  will  be  seen,  in  the  sequel  of  this 
volume,  that  civil  and  religious  liberty  found 
strange  allies  in  this  Western  World. 

The  sources  of  information  concerning  the 
early  Jesuits  of  New  France  are  very  copious. 
During  a  period  of  forty  years,  the  Superior  of 
the  Mission  sent,  every  summer,  long  and  de- 


vi  PREFACE. 

tailed  reports,  embodying  or  accompanied  by  the 
reports  of  his  subordinates,  to  the  Provincial  of 
the  Order  at  Paris,  where  they  were  annually 
published,  in  duodecimo  volumes,  forming  the 
remarkable  series  known  as  the  Jesuit  Relations. 
Though  the  productions  of  men  of  scholastic 
training,  they  are  simple  and  often  crude  in 
style,  as  might  be  expected  of  narratives  hastily 
written  in  Indian  lodges  or  rude  mission-houses 
in  the  forest,  amid  annoyances  and  interruptions 
of  all  kinds.  In  respect  to  the  value  of  their 
contents,  they  are  exceedingly  unequal.  Mod- 
est records  of  marvellous  adventures  and  sacri- 
fices, and  vivid  pictures  of  forest  life,  alternate 
with  prolix  and  monotonous  details  of  the  con- 
version of  individual  savages,  and  the  praise- 
worthy deportment  of  some  exemplary  neophyte. 
With  regard  to  the  condition  and  character  of 
the  primitive  inhabitants  of  North  America,  it 
is  impossible  to  exaggerate  their  value  as  an 
authority.  I  should  add,  that  the  closest  exami- 
nation has  left  me  no  doubt  that  these  mission- 
aries wrote  in  perfect  good  faith,  and  that  the 
Relations  hold  a  high  place  as  authentic  and 
trustworthy  historical  documents.  They  are 
very  scarce,  and  no  complete  collection  of  them 
exists  in  America.  The  entire  series  was,  how- 


PREFACE.  vii 

ever,  republished,  in  1858,  by  the  Canadian 
government,  in  three  large  octavo  volumes.1 

These  form  but  a  part  of  the  surviving  writ- 
ings of  the  French- American  Jesuits.  Many 
additional  reports,  memoirs,  journals,  and  let- 
ters, official  and  private,  have  come  down  to  us ; 
some  of  which  have  recently  been  printed,  while 
others  remain  in  manuscript.  Nearly  every 
prominent  actor  in  the  scenes  to  be  described 
has  left  his  own  record  of  events  in  which  he 
bore  part,  in  the  shape  of  reports  to  his  Superi- 
ors or  letters  to  his  friends.  I  have  studied  and 
compared  these  authorities,  as  well  as  a  great 
mass  of  collateral  evidence,  with  more  than 
usual  care,  striving  to  secure  the  greatest  pos- 
sible accuracy  of  statement,  and  to  reproduce  an 
image  of  the  past  with  photographic  clearness 
and  truth. 

The  introductory  chapter  of  the  volume  is 
independent  of  the  rest ;  but  a  knowledge  of 
the  facts  set  forth  in  it  is  essential  to  the  full 
understanding  of  the  narrative  which  follows. 

In  the  collection  of  material,  I  have  received 

1  Both  editions  —  the  old  and  the  new  —  are  cited  in  the  follow- 
ing pages.  Where  the  reference  is  to  the  old  edition,  it  is  indicated 
by  the  name  of  the  publisher  (Cramoisy),  appended  to  the  citation, 
in  brackets. 

In  extracts  given  in  the  notes,  the  antiquated  orthography  and 
accentuation  are  preserved. 


viii  PREFACE. 

valuable  aid  from  Mr.  J.  G.  Shea,  Rev.  Felix 
Martin,  S.J.,  the  Abbes  Laverdiere  and  H.  R. 
Casgrain,  Dr.  J.  C.  Tache,  and  the  late  Jacques 
Viger,  Esq. 

I  propose  to  devote  the  next  volume  of  this 
series  to  the  discovery  and  occupation  by  the 
French  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

BOSTON,  1st  May,  1867. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

NATIVE  TRIBES. 

PAGE 

Divisions.  —  The  Algonquins. — The  Hurons:  their  Houses;  For- 
tifications ;  Habits ;  Arts ;  "Women  ;  Trade ;  Festivities ;  Medi- 
cine. —  The  Tobacco  Nation.  —  The  Neutrals.  —  The  Eries. 
—  The  Andastes.  —  The  Iroquois  :  Social  and  Political  Organ- 
ization.—  Iroquois  Institutions,  Customs,  and  Character. — 
Indian  Religion  and  Superstitions.  —  The  Indian  Mind  ...  3 

CHAPTER   I. 
1634. 

NOTRE-DAME    DBS   ANGES. 

Quebec  in  1634. — Father  Le  Jeune.  —  The  Mission-house:  its 
Domestic  Economy.  —  The  Jesuits  and  their  Designs  ...  88 

CHAPTER   II. 

LOYOLA    AND    THE    JESUITS. 

Conversion  of  Loyola.  —  Foundation  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  — 
Preparation  of  the  Novice.  —  Characteristics  of  the  Order.  — 
The  Canadian  Jesuits 95 

CHAPTER  III. 
1632,  1633. 

PAUL    LE    JEUNE. 

Le  Jeune's  Voyage :  his  First  Pupils ;  his  Studies ;  his  Indian 
Teacher.  —  Winter  at  the  Mission-house.  —  Le  Jeune's 
School.  —  Reinforcements 101 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
1633,  1634. 

LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS. 

PAGE 
Le  Jeune  joins  the  Indians.  —  The  First  Encampment.  —  The 

Apostate.  —  Forest  Life  in  Winter.  —  The  Indian  Hut.  — 
The  Sorcerer :  his  Persecution  of  the  Priest.  —  Evil  Com- 
pany. —  Magic.  —  Incantations.  —  Christmas.  —  Starvation. 

—  Hopes  of  Conversion.  —  Backsliding. —  Peril  and  Escape 

of  Le  Jeune;  his  Return 110 

CHAPTER  V. 

1633,  1634. 

THE    HURON   MISSION. 

Plans  of  Conversion.  — Aims  and  Motives.  —  Indian  Diplomacy. 

—  Ilurous  at  Quebec.  —  Councils.  —  The  Jesuit  Chapel.  —  Le 
Borgne.  —  The  Jesuits  thwarted.  —  Their  Perseverance.  — 
The  Journey  to  the  Hurons.  —  Jean  de  Brebeuf .  —  The  Mis- 
sion begun 129 

CHAPTER   VI. 

1634,  1635. 

BREBEUF   AND    HIS    ASSOCIATES. 

The  Huron  Mission-house :  its  Inmates ;  its  Furniture ;  its 
Guests.  —  The  Jesuit  as  a  Teacher,  —  As  an  Engineer.  —  Bap- 
tisms. —  Huron  Village  Life.  —  Festivities  and  Sorceries.  — 
The  Dream  Feast.  —  The  Priests  accused  of  Magic.  —  The 
Drought  and  the  Red  Cross 146 

CHAPTER  VII. 

1636,  1637. 

THE    FEAST   OF    THE    DEAD. 

Huron  Graves.  —  Preparation  for  the  Ceremony.  —  Disinterment. 

—  The  Mourning. — The  Funeral  March.  —  The  Great  Sep- 
ulchre. —  Funeral  Games.  —  Encampment  of  the  Mourners. 

—  Gifts.  —  Harangues.  —  Frenzy  of  the  Crowd.  —  The  Clos- 
ing  Scene.  —  Another  Rite.  —  The   Captive  Iroquois.  —  The 
Sacrifice 159 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
1636,  1637. 

THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT. 

PAGE 

Enthusiasm  for  the  Mission.  —  Sickness  of  the  Priests.  —  The 
Pest  among  the  Unions.  —  The  Jesuit  on  his  Rounds.  —  Ef- 
forts at  Conversion.  —  Priests  and  Sorcerers.  —  The  Man- 
Devil.  —  The  Magician's  Prescription.  —  Indian  Doctors 
and  Patients.  —  Covert  Baptisms.  —  Self-devotion  of  the 
Jesuits 172 

CHAPTER  IX. 
1637. 

CHARACTER   OF   THE    CANADIAN  JESUITS. 

Jean  de  Brebeuf.  —  Charles  Gamier.  —  Joseph  Marie  Chaumonot. 
— Noel  Chabanel.  —  Isaac  Jogues.  —  Other  Jesuits.  — Nature 
of  their  Faith.  —  Supernaturalism.  —  Visions.  —  Miracles  .  188 

CHAPTER  X. 
1637-1640. 

PERSECUTION. 

Ossossane.  —  The  New  Chapel.  —  A  Triumph  of  the  Faith.  — 
The  Nether  Powers.  —  Signs  of  a  Tempest.  —  Slanders.  — 
Rage  against  the  Jesuits.  —  Their  Boldness  arid  Persistency. 
—  Nocturnal  Council.  —  Danger  of  the  Priests.  —  Brebeuf 's 
Letter.  —  Narrow  Escapes.  —  Woes  and  Consolations  .  .  .  200 

CHAPTER  XL 
1638-1640. 

PRIEST   AND   PAGAN. 

Du  Peron's  Journey.  —  Daily  Life  of  the  Jesuits.  —  Their  Mis- 
sionary Excursions.  —  Converts  at  Ossossane.  —  Machinery 
of  Conversion.  —  Conditions  of  Baptism.  —  Backsliders. — 
The  Converts  and  their  Countrymen.  —  The  Cannibals  at  St. 
Joseph 218 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
1639,  1640. 

THE    TOBACCO   NATION.  —  THE    NEUTRALS. 

PAGE 

A  Change  of  Plan.  —  Sainte  Marie.  —  Mission  of  the  Tobacco  Na- 
tion. —  Winter  Journeying.  —  Reception  of  the  Missionaries. 

—  Superstitious  Terrors.  —  Peril  of  Gamier  and  Jogues.  — 
Mission  of  the  Neutrals.  —  Huron  Intrigues.  —  Miracles.  — 
Fury  of  the  Indians.  —  Intervention  of  Saint  Michael.  —  Re- 
turn to  Sainte  Marie.  —  Intrepidity  of  the  Priests.  —  Their 
Mental  Exaltation 230 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
1636-1646. 

QUEBEC    AND    ITS   TENANTS. 

The  New  Governor.  —  Edifying  Examples.  —  Le  Jeune's  Corre- 
spondents. —  Rank  and  Devotion.  —  Nuns.  —  Priestly  Author- 
ity. —  Condition  of  Quebec.  —  The  Hundred  Associates.  — 
Church  Discipline.  —  Plays.  —  Fireworks.  —  Processions.  — 
Catechising.  —  Terrorism.  —  Pictures. —  The  Converts.  —  The 
Society  of  Jesus.  —  The  Foresters 241 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
1636-1652. 

DEVOTEES   AND   NUNS. 

The  Huron  Seminary.  —  Madame  de  la  Peltrie :  her  Pious 
Schemes;  her  Sham  Marriage;  she  visits  the  Ursulines  of 
Tours.  —  Marie  de  Saint  Bernard.  —  Marie  de  1'Incarnation  : 
her  Enthusiasm ;  her  Mystical  Marriage  ;  her  Dejection ;  her 
Mental  Conflicts ;  her  Vision ;  made  Superior  of  the  Ursulines. 

—  The  Hotel-Dieu.  —  The   Voyage  to   Canada.  —  Sillery. — 
Labors  and  Sufferings  of  the  Nuns.  —  Character  of  Marie  de 
ITncaruation.  —  Of  Madame  de  la  Peltrie 259 


Illustrations 

VOLUME  I. 

MADAME  DE  LA  PELTRIE Frontispiece 

Photogravured  by  Goupil  and  Co.,  Par  is,  from  the  paint- 
ing by  C.  Huot,  in  the  Convent  des  Ursulines,  Quebec. 

COUNTRY  OF  THE  HURONS Page      3 

PAUL  LE  JEUNE „        88 

From  an  engraving  by  Rene  Lochon. 

LE  JEUNE  BAPTIZING  INDIAN  CHILDREN „      206 

From  a  drawing  by  B.  West  Clinedinst. 

DDCHESSE  D'AIGUILLON „      244 

From  the  painting  in  the  Hdtel  Dieu,  Quebec. 

MARIE  DE  L'!NCARNATION     .         ...        „      267 

From  an  engraving  by  J.  Edelinck,  in  the  Convent  des 
Ursulines,  Quebec. 


THE  JESUITS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA. 


THE 

JESUITS  IN  NOETH  AMERICA. 


INTRODUCTION. 

NATIVE  TRIBES. 

DIVISIONS. —  THE  ALGONQUINS. —  THE  HURONS:  THEIR  HOUSES; 
FORTIFICATIONS  ;  HABITS  ;  ARTS  ;  WOMEN  ;  TRADE  ;  FESTIVI- 
TIES; MEDICINE.  —  THE  TOBACCO  NATION.  —  THE  NEUTRALS. — 
THE  ERIES.  —  THE  ANDASTES.  —  THE  IROQUOIS  :  SOCIAL  AND 
POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION.  —  IROQUOIS  INSTITUTIONS,  CUSTOMS, 
AND  CHARACTER.  —  INDIAN  RELIGION  AND  SUPERSTITIONS.  — 
THE  INDIAN  MIND. 

AMERICA,  when  it  became  known  to  Europeans, 
was,  as  it  had  long  been,  a  scene  of  wide-spread 
revolution.  North  and  South,  tribe  was  giving  place 
to  tribe,  language  to  language ;  for  the  Indian,  hope- 
lessly unchanging  in  respect  to  individual  and  social 
development,  was,  as  regarded  tribal  relations  and 
local  haunts,  mutable  as  the  wind.  In  Canada  and 
the  northern  section  of  the  United  States,  the  elements 
of  change  were  especially  active.  The  Indian  popu- 
lation which,  in  1535,  Cartier  found  at  Montreal  and 
Quebec,  had  disappeared  at  the  opening  of  the  next 
century,  and  another  race  had  succeeded,  in  language 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

and  customs  widely  different;  while,  in  the  region 
now  forming  the  State  of  New  York,  a  power  was 
rising  to  a  ferocious  vitality,  which,  but  for  the 
presence  of  Europeans,  would  probably  have  sub- 
jected, absorbed,  or  exterminated  every  other  Indian 
community  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the 
Ohio. 

The  vast  tract  of  wilderness  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Atlantic,  and  from  the  Carolinas  to  Hudson's 
Bay,  was  divided  between  two  great  families  of 
tribes,  distinguished  by  a  radical  difference  of  lan- 
guage. A  part  of  Virginia  and  of  Pennsylvania,  New 
Jersey,  southeastern  New  York,  New  England,  New 
Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  Lower  Canada  were 
occupied,  so  far  as  occupied  at  all,  by  tribes  speaking 
various  Algonquin  languages  and  dialects.  They 
extended,  moreover,  along  the  shores  of  the  Upper 
Lakes,  and  into  the  dreary  northern  wastes  beyond. 
They  held  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  Illinois,  and  Indiana, 
and  detached  bands  ranged  the  lonely  hunting- 
ground  of  Kentucky.1 

Like  a  great  island  in  the  midst  of  the  Algonquins 
lay  the  country  of  tribes  speaking  the  generic  tongue 
of  the  Iroquois.  The  true  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations, 

1  The  word  Algonquin  is  here  used  in  its  broadest  signification. 
It  was  originally  applied  to  a  group  of  tribes  north  of  the  river 
St.  Lawrence.  The  difference  of  language  between  the  original 
Algonquins  and  the  Abenakis  of  New  England,  the  Ojibwas  of  the 
Great  Lakes,  or  the  Illinois  of  the  West  corresponded  to  the  differ  > 
ence  between  French  and  Italian,  or  Italian  and  Spanish.  Each  of 
these  languages,  again,  had  its  dialects,  like  those  of  different 
provinces  of  France. 


NEW-ENGLAND  TRIBES.  5 

extended  through  Central  New  York,  from  the 
Hudson  to  the  Genesee.  Southward  lay  the  Andastes, 
on  and  near  the  Susquehanna;  westward,  the  Eries, 
along  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  the  Neutral 
Nation,  along  its  northern  shore  from  Niagara  towards 
the  Detroit ;  while  the  towns  of  the  Hurons  lay  near 
the  lake  to  which  they  have  left  their  name.1 

Of  the  Algonquin  populations,  the  densest,  despite 
a  recent  epidemic  which  had  swept  them  off  by  thou- 
sands, was  in  New  England.  Here  were  Mohicans, 
Pequots,  Narragansetts,  Wampanoags,  Massachusetts, 
Penacooks,  thorns  in  the  side  of  the  Puritan.  On 
the  whole,  these  savages  were  favorable  specimens  of 
the  Algonquin  stock,  belonging  to  that  section  of  it 
which  tilled  the  soil,  and  was  thus  in  some  measure 
spared  the  extremes  of  misery  and  degradation  to 
which  the  wandering  hunter  tribes  were  often  reduced. 
They  owed  much,  also,  to  the  bounty  of  the  sea,  and 
hence  they  tended  towards  the  coast;  which,  before 
the  epidemic,  Champlain  and  Smith  had  seen  at 
many  points  studded  with  wigwams  and  waving  with 
harvests  of  maize.  Fear,  too,  drove  them  eastward ; 

1  To  the  above  general  statements  there  was,  in  the  first  half  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  but  one  exception  worth  notice.  A  de- 
tached branch  of  the  Dahcotah  stock,  the  Winnebago,  was  estab- 
lished south  of  Green  Bay,  on  Lake  Michigan,  in  the  midst  of  the 
Algonquins;  and  small  Dahcotah  bands  had  also  planted  them- 
selves on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  nearly  in  the  same 
latitude. 

There  was  another  branch  of  the  Iroquois  in  the  Carolinas,  con- 
sisting of  the  Tuscaroras  and  kindred  bands.  In  1715  they  were 
joined  to  the  Five  Nations. 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

for  the  Iroquois  pursued  them  with  an  inveterate 
enmity.  Some  paid  yearly  tribute  to  their  tyrants, 
while  others  were  still  subject  to  their  inroads,  flying 
in  terror  at  the  sound  of  the  Mohawk  war-cry. 
Westward,  the  population  thinned  rapidly;  north- 
ward, it  soon  disappeared.  Northern  New  Hampshire, 
the  whole  of  Vermont,  and  western  Massachusetts 
had  no  human  tenants  but  the  roving  hunter  or 
prowling  warrior. 

We  have  said  that  this  group  of  tribes  was  rela- 
tively very  populous;  yet  it  is  more  than  doubtful 
whether  all  of  them  united,  had  union  been  possible, 
could  have  mustered  eight  thousand  fighting  men. 
To  speak  further  of  them  is  needless,  for  they  were 
not  within  the  scope  of  the  Jesuit  labors.  The  heresy 
of  heresies  had  planted  itself  among  them;  and  it 
was  for  the  apostle  Eliot,  not  the  Jesuit,  to  essay 
their  conversion.1 

1  These  Indians,  the  Armouchiquois  of  the  old  French  writers, 
were  in  a  state  of  chronic  war  with  the  tribes  of  New  Brunswick 
and  Nova  Scotia.  Champlain,  on  his  voyage  of  1603,  heard  strange 
accounts  of  them.  The  following  is  literally  rendered  from  the 
first  narrative  of  that  heroic,  but  credulous  explorer :  — 

"  They  are  savages  of  shape  altogether  monstrous :  for  their 
heads  are  small,  their  bodies  short,  and  their  arms  thin  as  a  skele- 
ton, as  are  also  their  thighs ;  but  their  legs  are  stout  and  long,  and 
all  of  one  size,  and,  when  they  are  seated  on  their  heels,  their  knees 
rise  more  than  half  a  foot  above  their  heads,  which  seems  a  thing 
strange  and  against  Nature.  Nevertheless,  they  are  active  and 
bold,  and  they  have  the  best  country  on  all  the  coast  towards 
Acadia."  —  Des  Sauuages,  f.  34. 

This  story  may  match  that  of  the  great  city  of  Norembega,  on 
the  Penobscot,  with  its  population  of  dwarfs,  as  related  by  Jean 
Alphonse. 


NEW-ENGLAND  TRIBES.  7 

Landing  at  Boston,  three  years  before  a  solitude, 
let  the  traveller  push  northward,  pass  the  river 
Piscataqua  and  the  Penacooks,  and  cross  the  river 
Saco.  Here,  a  change  of  dialect  would  indicate  a 
different  tribe,  or  group  of  tribes.  These  were  the 
Abenakis,  found  chiefly  along  the  course  of  the 
Kennebec  and  other  rivers,  on  whose  banks  they 
raised  their  rude  harvests,  and  whose  streams  they 
ascended  to  hunt  the  moose  and  bear  in  the  forest 
desert  of  northern  Maine,  or  descended  to  fish  in  the 
neighboring  sea.1 

Crossing  the  Penobscot,  one  found  a  visible  descent 
in  the  scale  of  humanity.  Eastern  Maine  and  the 
whole  of  New  Brunswick  were  occupied  by  a  race 
called  Etchemins,  to  whom  agriculture  was  unknown, 
though  the  sea,  prolific  of  fish,  lobsters,  and  seals, 
greatly  lightened  their  miseries.  The  Souriquois,  or 
Micmacs  of  Nova  Scotia,  closely  resembled  them  in 
habits  and  condition.  From  Nova  Scotia  to  the  St. 
Lawrence,  there  was  no  population  worthy  of  the 
name.  From  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  Lake 
Ontario,  the  southern  border  of  the  great  river  had 
no  tenants  but  hunters.  Northward,  between  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  Hudson's  Bay,  roamed  the  scattered 
hordes  of  the  Papinachois,  Bersiamites,  and  others, 
included  by  the  French  under  the  general  name  of 
Montagnais.  When,  in  spring,  the  French  trading- 
ships  arrived  and  anchored  in  the  port  of  Tadoussac, 

1  The  Tarratines  of  New-England  writers  were  the  Abenakis,  or 
a  portion  of  them. 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

they  gathered  from  far  and  near,  toiling  painfully 
through  the  desolation  of  forests,  mustering  by  hun- 
dreds at  the  point  of  traffic,  and  setting  up  their  bark 
wigwams  along  the  strand  of  that  wild  harbor.  They 
were  of  the  lowest  Algonquin  type.  Their  ordinary 
sustenance  was  derived  from  the  chase;  though 
often,  goaded  by  deadly  famine,  they  would  subsist 
on  roots,  the  bark  and  buds  of  trees,  or  the  foulest 
offal;  and  in  extremity,  even  cannibalism  was  not 
rare  among  them. 

Ascending  the  St.  Lawrence,  it  was  seldom  that 
the  sight  of  a  human  form  gave  relief  to  the  lone- 
liness, until,  at  Quebec,  the  roar  of  Champlain's 
cannon  from  the  verge  of  the  cliff  announced  that  the 
savage  prologue  of  the  American  drama  was  drawing 
to  a  close,  and  that  the  civilization  of  Europe  was 
advancing  on  the  scene.  Ascending  farther,  all  was 
solitude,  except  at  Three  Rivers,  a  noted  place  of 
trade,  where  a  few  Algonquins  of  the  tribe  called 
Atticamegues  might  possibly  be  seen.  The  fear  of 
the  Iroquois  was  everywhere;  and  as  the  voyager 
passed  some  wooded  point,  or  thicket-covered  island, 
the  whistling  of  a  stone-headed  arrow  proclaimed, 
perhaps,  the  presence  of  these  fierce  marauders.  At 
Montreal  there  was  no  human  life,  save  during  a 
brief  space  in  early  summer,  when  the  shore  swarmed 
with  savages,  who  had  come  to  the  yearly  trade  from 
the  great  communities  of  the  interior.  To-day  there 
were  dances,  songs,  and  f eastings;  to-morrow  all 
again  was  solitude,  and  the  Ottawa  was  covered  with 
the  canoes  of  the  returning  warriors. 


ALGONQUINS.  9 

Along  this  stream,  a  main  route  of  traffic,  the 
silence  of  the  wilderness  was  broken  only  by  the 
splash  of  the  passing  paddle.  To  the  north  of  the  river 
there  was  indeed  a  small  Algonquin  band,  called 
La  Petite  Nation,  together  with  one  or  two  other 
feeble  communities;  but  they  dwelt  far  from  the 
banks,  through  fear  of  the  ubiquitous  Iroquois.  It 
was  nearly  three  hundred  miles,  by  the  windings 
of  the  stream,  before  one  reached  that  Algonquin 
tribe,  La  Nation  de  Vlsle,  who  occupied  the  great 
island  of  the  Allumettes.  Then,  after  many  a  day 
of  lonely  travel,  the  voyager  found  a  savage  welcome 
among  the  Nipissings,  on  the  lake  which  bears  their 
name ;  and  then  circling  west  and  south  for  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  solitude,  he  reached  for  the  first 
time  a  people  speaking  a  dialect  of  the  Iroquois 
tongue.  Here  all  was  changed.  Populous  towns, 
rude  fortifications,  and  an  extensive,  though  bar- 
barous tillage,  indicated  a  people  far  in  advance  of 
the  famished  wanderers  of  the  Saguenay,  or  their  less 
abject  kindred  of  New  England.  These  were  the 
Hurons,  of  whom  the  modern  Wyandots  are  a  rem- 
nant. Both  in  themselves  and  as  a  type  of  their 
generic  stock  they  demand  more  than  a  passing 
notice.1 

1  The  usual  confusion  of  Indian  tribal  names  prevails  in  the 
case  of  the  Hurons.  The  following  are  their  synonymes  :  — 

Hurons  (of  French  origin) ;  Ochateguins  (Champlain) ;  Atti- 
gouantans  (the  name  of  one  of  their  tribes,  used  by  Champlain  for 
the  whole  nation) ;  Ouendat  (their  true  name,  according  to  Lale- 
mant) ;  Yendat,  Wyandot,  Guyandot  (corruptions  of  the  preceding) ; 
Ouaouakecinatouek  (Potier),  Quatogies  (Golden). 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

THE   HURONS. 

More  than  two  centuries  have  elapsed  since  the 
Hurons  vanished  from  their  ancient  seats,  and  the 
settlers  of  this  rude  solitude  stand  perplexed  and 
wondering  over  the  relics  of  a  lost  people.  In  the 
damp  shadow  of  what  seems  a  virgin  forest,  the  axe 
and  plough  bring  strange  secrets  to  light,  —  huge 
pits,  close  packed  with  skeletons  and  disjointed 
bones,  mixed  with  weapons,  copper  kettles,  beads, 
and  trinkets.  Not  even  the  straggling  Algonquins, 
who  linger  about  the  scene  of  Huron  prosperity,  can 
tell  their  origin.  Yet  on  ancient  worm-eaten  pages, 
between  covers  of  begrimed  parchment,  the  daily  life 
of  this  ruined  community,  its  firesides,  its  festivals, 
its  funeral  rites,  are  painted  with  a  minute  and  vivid 
fidelity. 

The  ancient  country  of  the  Hurons  is  now  the 
northern  and  eastern  portion  of  Simcoe  County, 
Canada  West,  and  is  embraced  within  the  peninsula 
formed  by  the  Nottawassaga  and  Matchedash  Bays  of 
Lake  Huron,  the  river  Severn,  and  Lake  Simcoe. 
Its  area  was  small,  —  its  population  comparatively 
large.  In  the  year  1639  the  Jesuits  made  an  enu- 
meration of  all  its  villages,  dwellings,  and  families. 
The  result  showed  thirty-two  villages  and  hamlets, 
with  seven  hundred  dwellings,  about  four  thousand 
families,  and  twelve  thousand  adult  persons,  or  a 
total  population  of  at  least  twenty  thousand.1 

1  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1640,  38  (Cramoisy).  His  words 
are,  "  de  feux  enuiron  deux  mille,  et  enuiron  douze  mille  personnes." 


COUNTRY  OF  THE  HURONS.       11 

The  region  whose  boundaries  we  have  given  was 
an  alternation  of  meadows  and  deep  forests,  interlaced 
with  footpaths  leading  from  town  to  town.  Of  these 
towns,  some  were  fortified,  but  the  greater  number  were 
open  and  defenceless.  They  were  of  a  construction 
common  to  all  tribes  of  Iroquois  lineage,  and  peculiar 
to  them.  Nothing  similar  exists  at  the  present  day. l 
They  covered  a  space  of  from  one  to  ten  acres,  the 
dwellings  clustering  together  with  little  or  no  pre- 
tension to  order.  In  general,  these  singular  struc- 
tures were  about  thirty  or  thirty-five  feet  in  length, 
breadth,  and  height ;  but  many  were  much  larger,  and 
a  few  were  of  prodigious  length.  In  some  of  the 
villages  there  were  dwellings  two  hundred  and  forty 

There  were  two  families  to  every  fire.  That  by  "  personnes  "  adults 
only  are  meant  cannot  be  doubted,  as  the  Relations  abound  in  inci- 
dental evidence  of  a  total  population  far  exceeding  twelve  thousand. 
A  Huron  family  usually  numbered  from  five  to  eight  persons.  The 
number  of  the  Huron  towns  changed  from  year  to  year.  Cham- 
plain  and  Le  Caron,  in  1615,  reckoned  them  at  seventeen  or  eighteen, 
with  a  population  of  about  ten  thousand,  —  meaning,  no  doubt, 
adults.  Brebeuf,  in  1635,  found  twenty  villages,  and,  as  he  thinks, 
thirty  thousand  souls.  Both  Le  Mercier  and  De  Quen,  as  well  as 
Dollier  de  Casson  and  the  anonymous  author  of  the  Relation  of 
1600,  state  the  population  at  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  thousand. 
Since  the  time  of  Champlain's  visit,  various  kindred  tribes  or  frag- 
ments of  tribes  had  been  incorporated  with  the  Hurons,  thus  more 
than  balancing  the  ravages  of  a  pestilence  which  had  decimated 
them. 

1  The  permanent  bark  villages  of  the  Dahcotah  of  the  St.  Peter's 
are  the  nearest  modern  approach  to  the  Huron  towns.  The  whole 
Huron  country  abounds  with  evidences  of  having  been  occupied  by 
a  numerous  population.  "  On  a  close  inspection  of  the  forest,"  Dr. 
Tache  writes  to  me,  "  the  greatest  part  of  it  seems  to  have  been 
cleared  at  former  periods,  and  almost  the  only  places  bearing  the 
character  of  the  primitive  forest  are  the  low  grounds." 


12  INTRODUCTION". 

feet  long,  though  in  breadth  and  height  they  did  not 
much  exceed  the  others.1  In  shape  they  were  much 
like  an  arbor  overarching  a  garden-walk.  Their 
frame  was  of  tall  and  strong  saplings,  planted  in  a 
double  row  to  form  the  two  sides  of  the  house,  bent 
till  they  met,  and  lashed  together  at  the  top.  To 
these  other  poles  were  bound  transversely,  and  the 
whole  was  covered  with  large  sheets  of  the  bark  of 
the  oak,  elm,  spruce,  or  white  cedar,  overlapping  like 
the  shingles  of  a  roof,  upon  which,  for  their  better 
security,  split  poles  were  made  fast  with  cords  of 
linden  bark.  At  the  crown  of  the  arch,  along  the 
entire  length  of  the  house,  an  opening  a  foot  wide 
was  left  for  the  admission  of  light  and  the  escape  of 
smoke.  At  each  end  was  a  close  porch  of  similar 
construction;  and  here  were  stowed  casks  of  bark, 
filled  with  smoked  fish,  Indian  corn,  and  other  stores 
not  liable  to  injury  from  frost.  Within,  on  both 
sides,  were  wide  scaffolds,  four  feet  from  the  floor, 
and  extending  the  entire  length  of  the  house,  like 
the  seats  of  a  colossal  omnibus.2  These  were  formed 

1  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1635,  31.  Champlain  says  that 
he  saw  them,  in  1615,  more  than  thirty  fathoms  long ;  while  Van- 
derdonck  reports  the  length,  from  actual  measurement,  of  an  Iro- 
quois  house,  at  a  hundred  and  eighty  yards,  or  five  hundred  and 
forty  feet ! 

8  Often,  especially  among  the  Iroquois,  the  internal  arrangement 
was  different.  The  scaffolds  or  platforms  were  raised  only  a  foot 
from  the  earthen  tloor,  and  were  only  twelve  or  thirteen  feet  long, 
with  intervening  spaces,  where  the  occupants  stored  their  family 
provisions  and  other  articles.  Five  or  six  feet  above  was  another 
platform,  often  occupied  by  children.  One  pair  of  platforms  suf- 
ficed for  a  family,  and  here  during  summer  they  slept  pellmell,  in 
the  clothes  they  wore  by  day,  and  without  pillows. 


HURON  DWELLINGS.  13 

of  thick  sheets  of  bark,  supported  by  posts  and  trans- 
verse poles,  and  covered  with  mats  and  skins.  Here, 
in  summer,  was  the  sleeping-place  of  the  inmates, 
and  the  space  beneath  served  for  storage  of  their  fire- 
wood. The  fires  were  on  the  ground,  in  a  line  down 
the  middle  of  the  house.  Each  sufficed  for  two 
families,  who,  in  winter,  slept  closely  packed  around 
them.  Above,  just  under  the  vaulted  roof,  were  a 
great  number  of  poles,  like  the  perches  of  a  hen- 
roost; and  here  were  suspended  weapons,  clothing, 
skins,  and  ornaments.  Here,  too,  in  harvest  time, 
the  squaws  hung  the  ears  of  unshelled  corn,  till  the 
rude  abode,  through  all  its  length,  seemed  decked 
with  a  golden  tapestry.  In  general,  however,  its 
only  lining  was  a  thick  coating  of  soot  from  the 
smoke  of  fires  with  neither  draught,  chimney,  nor 
window.  So  pungent  was  the  smoke  that  it  produced 
inflammation  of  the  eyes,  attended  in  old  age  with 
frequent  blindness.  Another  annoyance  was  the 
fleas;  and  a  third,  the  unbridled  and  unruly  chil- 
dren. Privacy  there  was  none.  The  house  was  one 
chamber,  sometimes  lodging  more  than  twenty 
families. 1 

1  One  of  the  best  descriptions  of  the  Huron  and  Iroquois  houses 
is  that  of  Sagard,  Voyage  des  Hurons,  118.  See  also  Champlain 
(1627),  78;  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1635,  31;  Vanderdonck, 
New  Netherlands,  in  N.  Y.  Hist.  Coll.,  Second  Ser.,  i.  196 ;  Lafitau, 
Mceurs  des  Sauvayes,  ii.  10.  The  account  given  by  Cartier  of  the 
houses  he  saw  at  Montreal  corresponds  with  the  above.  He  describes 
them  as  about  fifty  yards  long.  In  this  case,  there  were  partial 
partitions  for  the  several  families,  and  a  sort  of  loft  above.  Many 
of  the  Iroquois  and  Huron  houses  were  of  similar  construction, 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

He  who  entered  on  a  winter  night  beheld  a  strange 
spectacle :  the  vista  of  fires  lighting  the  smoky  con- 
cave ;  the  bronzed  groups  encircling  each,  —  cooking, 
eating,  gambling,  or  amusing  themselves  with  idle 
badinage ;  shrivelled  squaws,  hideous  with  threescore 
years  of  hardship;  grisly  old  warriors,  scarred  with 
Iroquois  war-clubs;  young  aspirants,  whose  honors 
were  yet  to  be  won;  damsels  gay  with  ochre  and 
wampum;  restless  children  pellmell  with  restless 
dogs.  Now  a  tongue  of  resinous  flame  painted  each 
wild  feature  in  vivid  light;  now  the  fitful  gleam 
expired,  and  the  group  vanished  from  sight,  as  their 
nation  has  vanished  from  history. 

the  partitions  being  at  the  sides  only,  leaving  a  wide  passage  down 
the  middle  of  the  house.  Bartram,  Observations  on  a  Journey  from 
Pennsylvania  to  Canada,  gives  a  description  and  plan  of  the  Iroquois 
Council-House  in  1751,  which  was  of  this  construction.  Indeed,  the 
Iroquois  preserved  this  mode  of  building,  in  all  essential  points, 
down  to  a  recent  period.  They  usually  framed  the  sides  of  their 
houses  on  rows  of  upright  posts,  arched  with  separate  poles  for  the 
roof.  The  Hurons,  no  doubt,  did  the  same  in  their  larger  struc- 
tures. For  a  door,  there  was  a  sheet  of  bark  hung  on  wooden 
hinges,  or  suspended  by  cords  from  above. 

On  the  site  of  Huron  towns  which  were  destroyed  by  fire,  the  size, 
shape,  and  arrangement  of  the  houses  can  still,  in  some  instances, 
be  traced  by  remains  in  the  form  of  charcoal,  as  well  as  by  the 
charred  bones  and  fragments  of  pottery  found  among  the  ashes. 

Dr.  Tache,  after  a  zealous  and  minute  examination  of  the  Huron 
country,  extended  through  five  years,  writes  to  me  as  follows : 
"  From  the  remains  I  have  found,  I  can  vouch  for  the  scrupulous 
correctness  of  our  ancient  writers.  With  the  aid  of  their  indica- 
tions and  descriptions,  I  have  been  able  to  detect  the  sites  of 
villages  in  the  midst  of  the  forest,  and  by  the  study,  in  situ,  of 
archaeological  monuments,  small  as  they  are,  to  understand  and 
confirm  their  many  interesting  details  of  the  habits,  and  especially 
the  funeral  rites,  of  these  extraordinary  tribes." 


HURON  FORTIFICATIONS.  15 

The  fortified  towns  of  the  Hurons  were  all  on  the 
side  exposed  to  Iroquois  incursions.  The  fortifica- 
tions of  all  this  family  of  tribes  were,  like  their 
dwellings,  in  essential  points  alike.  A  situation  was 
chosen  favorable  to  defence,  —  the  bank  of  a  lake, 
the  crown  of  a  difficult  hill,  or  a  high  point  of  land 
in  the  fork  of  confluent  rivers.  A  ditch,  several  feet 
deep,  was  dug  around  the  village,  and  the  earth 
thrown  up  on  the  inside.  Trees  were  then  felled  by 
an  alternate  process  of  burning  and  hacking  the 
burnt  part  with  stone  hatchets,  and  by  similar  means 
were  cut  into  lengths  to  form  palisades.  These  were 
planted  on  the  embankment,  in  one,  two,  three,  or 
four  concentric  rows,  —  those  of  each  row  inclining 
towards  those  of  the  other  rows  until  they  intersected. 
The  whole  was  lined  within,  to  the  height  of  a  man, 
with  heavy  sheets  of  bark ;  and  at  the  top,  where  the 
palisades  crossed,  was  a  gallery  of  timber  for  the 
defenders,  together  with  wooden  gutters,  by  which 
streams,  of  water  could  be  poured  down  on  fires 
kindled  by  the  enemy.  Magazines  of  stones,  and 
rude  ladders  for  mounting  the  rampart,  completed 
the  provision  for  defence.  The  forts  of  the  Iroquois 
were  stronger  and  more  elaborate  than  those  of  the 
Hurons ;  and  to  this  day  large  districts  in  New  York 
are  marked  with  frequent  remains  of  their  ditches 
and  embankments.1 

1  There  is  no  mathematical  regularity  in  these  works.  In  their 
form,  the  builders  were  guided  merely  by  the  nature  of  the  ground. 
Frequently  a  precipice  or  river  sufficed  for  partial  defence,  and  the 
line  of  embankment  occurs  only  on  one  or  two  sides.  In  one 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

Among  these  tribes  there  was  no  individual  owner- 
ship of  land,  but  each  family  had  for  the  time  exclu- 
sive right  to  as  much  as  it  saw  fit  to  cultivate.  The 
clearing  process  —  a  most  toilsome  one  —  consisted  in 
hacking  off  branches,  piling  them  together  with 
brushwood  around  the  foot  of  the  standing  trunks, 
and  setting  fire  to  the  whole.  The  squaws,  working 
with  their  hoes  of  wood  and  bone  among  the  charred 
stumps,  sowed  their  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  tobacco, 
sunflowers,  and  Huron  hemp.  No  manure  was  used ; 
but  at  intervals  of  from  ten  to  thirty  years,  when  the 
soil  was  exhausted  and  firewood  distant,  the  village 
was  abandoned  and  a  new  one  built. 

There  was  little  game  in  the  Huron  country;  and 
here,  as  among  the  Iroquois,  the  staple  of  food  was 
Indian  corn,  cooked  without  salt  in  a  variety  of 
forms,  each  more  odious  than  the  last.  Venison  was 

instance,  distinct  traces  of  a  double  line  of  palisades  are  visible 
along  the  embankment.  (See  Squier,  Aboriginal  Monuments  of  New 
York,  38.)  It  is  probable  that  the  palisade  was  planted  first,  and 
the  earth  heaped  around  it.  Indeed,  this  is  stated  by  the  Tusca- 
rora  Indian,  Cusick,  in  his  curious  History  of  the  Six  Nations  (Iro- 
quois). Brebeuf  says,  that  as  early  as  1636  the  Jesuits  taught  the 
Hurons  to  build  rectangular  palisaded  works,  with  bastions.  The 
Iroquois  adopted  the  same  practice  at  an  early  period,  omitting  the 
ditch  and  embankment ;  and  it  is  probable  that  even  in  their  primi- 
tive defences  the  palisades,  where  the  ground  was  of  a  nature  to 
yield  easily  to  their  rude  implements,  were  planted  simply  in  holes 
dug  for  the  purpose.  Such  seems  to  have  been  the  Iroquois  fortress 
attacked  by  Champlain  in  1615. 

The  Muscogees,  with  other  Southern  tribes,  and  occasionally  the 
Algonquins,  had  palisaded  towns ;  but  the  palisades  were  usually 
but  a  single  row,  planted  upright.  The  tribes  of  Virginia  occasion- 
ally surrounded  their  dwellings  with  a  triple  palisade.  —  Beverly, 
History  of  Virginia,  149. 


THE  ARTS.  17 

a  luxury  found  only  at  feasts ;  dog-flesh  was  in  high 
esteem;  and,  in  some  of  the  towns,  captive  bears 
were  fattened  for  festive  occasions.  These  tribes 
were  far  less  improvident  than  the  roving  Algonquins, 
and  stores  of  provision  were  laid  up  against  a  season 
of  want.  Their  main  stock  of  corn  was  buried  in 
caches,  or  deep  holes  in  the  earth,  either  within  or 
without  the  houses. 

In  respect  to  the  arts  of  life,  all  these  stationary 
tribes  were  in  advance  of  the  wandering  hunters  of 
the  North.  The  women  made  a  species  of  earthen 
pot  for  cooking,  but  these  were  supplanted  by  the 
copper  kettles  of  the  French  traders.  They  wove 
rush  mats  with  no  little  skill.  They  spun  twine  from 
hemp,  by  the  primitive  process  of  rolling  it  on  their 
thighs;  and  of  this  twine  they  made  nets.  They 
extracted  oil  from  fish  and  from  the  seeds  of  the 
sunflower,  —  the  latter,  apparently,  only  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  toilet.  They  pounded  their  maize  in 
huge  mortars  of  wood,  hollowed  by  alternate  burn- 
ings and  scrapings.  Their  stone  axes,  spear  and 
arrow  heads,  and  bone  fish-hooks,  were  fast  giving 
place  to  the  iron  of  the  French;  but  they  had  not 
laid  aside  their  shields  of  raw  bison-hide,  or  of  wood 
overlaid  with  plaited  and  twisted  thongs  of  skin. 
They  still  used,  too,  their  primitive  breastplates  and 
greaves  of  twigs  interwoven  with  cordage.1  The 

1  Some  of  the  northern  tribes  of  California,  at  the  present  day, 
wear  a  sort  of  breastplate  "  composed  of  thin  parallel  battens  of 
very  tough  wood,  woven  together  with  a  small  cord." 

VOL.    I.  —  2 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

masterpiece  of  Huron  handiwork,  however,  was  the 
birch  canoe,  in  the  construction  of  which  the 
Algonquins  were  no  less  skilful.  The  Iroquois  in 
the  absence  of  the  birch  were  forced  to  use  the  bark 
of  the  elm,  which  was  greatly  inferior  both  in  light- 
ness and  strength.  Of  pipes,  than  which  nothing 
was  more  important  in  their  eyes,  the  Hurons  made 
a  great  variety,  —  some  of  baked  clay,  others  of 
various  kinds  of  stone,  carved  by  the  men,  during 
their  long  periods  of  monotonous  leisure,  often  with 
great  skill  and  ingenuity.  But  their  most  mysterious 
fabric  was  wampum.  This  was  at  once  their  cur- 
rency, their  ornament,  their  pen,  ink,  and  parchment; 
and  its  use  was  by  no  means  confined  to  tribes  of  the 
Iroquois  stock.  It  consisted  of  elongated  beads, 
white  and  purple,  made  from  the  inner  part  of  certain 
shells.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how,  with  their 
rude  implements,  the  Indians  contrived  to  shape  and 
perforate  this  intractable  material.  The  art  soon 
fell  into  disuse,  however;  for  wampum  better  than 
their  own  was  brought  them  by  the  traders,  besides 
abundant  imitations  in  glass  and  porcelain.  Strung 
into  necklaces,  or  wrought  into  collars,  belts,  and 
bracelets,  it  was  the  favorite  decoration  of  the  Indian 
girls  at  festivals  and  dances.  It  served  also  a  graver 
purpose.  No  compact,  no  speech,  or  clause  of  a 
speech,  to  the  representative  of  another  nation,  had 
any  force,  unless  confirmed  by  the  delivery  of  a 
string  or  belt  of  wampum.1  The  belts,  on  occasions 

1  Beaver-skins  and  other  valuable  furs  -were  sometimes,  on  such 
occasions,  used  as  a  substitute. 


DRESS.  19 

of  importance,  were  wrought  into  significant  devices, 
suggestive  of  the  substance  of  the  compact  or  speech, 
and  designed  as  aids  to  memory.  To  one  or  more 
old  men  of  the  nation  was  assigned  the  honorable, 
but  very  onerous,  charge  of  keepers  of  the  wampum, 
—  in  other  words,  of  the  national  records ;  and  it  was 
for  them  to  remember  and  interpret  the  meaning  of 
the  belts.  The  figures  on  wampum-belts  were,  for 
the  most  part,  simply  mnemonic.  So  also  were  those 
carved  on  wooden  tablets,  or  painted  on  bark  and 
skin,  to  preserve  in  memory  the  songs  of  war,  hunt- 
ing, or  magic.1  The  Hurons  had,  however,  in  com- 
mon with  other  tribes,  a  system  of  rude  pictures  and 
arbitrary  signs,  by  which  they  could  convey  to  each 
other,  with  tolerable  precision,  information  touching 
the  ordinary  subjects  of  Indian  interest. 

Their  dress  was  chiefly  of  skins,  cured  with  smoke 
after  the  well-known  Indian  mode.  That  of  the 
women,  according  to  the  Jesuits,  was  more  modest 
than  that  "of  our  most  pious  ladies  of  France."  The 
young  girls  on  festal  occasions  must  be  excepted  from 
this  commendation,  as  they  wore  merely  a  kilt  from 
the  waist  to  the  knee,  besides  the  wampum  decora- 
tions of  the  breast  and  arms.  Their  long  black  hair, 
gathered  behind  the  neck,  was  decorated  with  disks 
of  native  copper,  or  gay  pendants  made  in  France, 
and  now  occasionally  unearthed  in  numbers  from 

1  Engravings  of  many  specimens  of  these  figured  songs  are  given 
in  the  voluminous  reports  on  the  condition  of  the  Indians,  pub- 
lished by  Government,  under  the  editorship  of  Mr.  Schoolcraft 
The  specimens  are  chiefly  Algonquin. 


20  IN1RODUCTION. 

their  graves.  The  men,  in  summer,  were  nearly 
naked,  —  those  of  a  kindred  tribe  wholly  so,  with 
the  sole  exception  of  their  moccasins.  In  winter 
they  were  clad  in  tunics  and  leggins  of  skin,  and  at 
all  seasons,  on  occasions  of  ceremony,  were  wrapped 
from  head  to  foot  in  robes  of  beaver  or  otter  furs, 
sometimes  of  the  greatest  value.  On  the  inner  side, 
these  robes  were  decorated  with  painted  figures  and 
devices,  or  embroidered  with  the  dyed  quills  of  the 
Canada  hedgehog.  In  this  art  of  embroidery,  how- 
ever, the  Hurons  were  equalled  or  surpassed  by  some 
of  the  Algonquin  tribes.  They  wore  their  hair  after 
a  variety  of  grotesque  and  startling  fashions.  With 
some,  it  was  loose  on  one  side,  and  tight  braided  on 
the  other;  with  others,  close  shaved,  leaving  one  or 
more  long  and  cherished  locks;  while,  with  others 
again,  it  bristled  in  a  ridge  across  the  crown,  like  the 
back  of  a  hyena.1  When  in  full  dress,  they  were 
painted  with  ochre,  white  clay,  soot,  and  the  red 
juice  of  certain  berries.  They  practised  tattooing, 
sometimes  covering  the  whole  body  with  indelible 
devices.2  When  of  such  extent,  the  process  was 
very  severe;  and  though  no  murmur  escaped  the 
sufferer,  he  sometimes  died  from  its  effects. 

Female  life  among  the  Hurons  had  no  bright  side. 
It  was  a  youth  of  license,  an  age  of  drudgery. 
Despite  an  organization  which,  while  it  perhaps  made 

1  See  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  35.    "  Quelles  hures  ! "  exclaimed 
some  astonished  Frenchman.     Hence  the  name,  Hurons. 

2  Bressani,  Relation  Abregte,  72.     Champlain   has  a  picture   of 
a  warrior  thus  tattooed. 


MARRIAGE.  21 

them  less  sensible  of  pain,  certainly  made  them  less 
susceptible  of  passion,  than  the  higher  races  of  men, 
the  Hurons  were  notoriously  dissolute,  far  exceed- 
ing in  this  respect  the  wandering  and  starving 
Algonquins.1  Marriage  existed  among  them,  and 
polygamy  was  exceptional;  but  divorce  took  place 
at  the  will  or  caprice  of  either  party.  A  practice 
also  prevailed  of  temporary  or  experimental  mar- 
riage, lasting  a  day,  a  week,  or  more.  The  seal  of 

1  Among  the  Iroquois  there  were  more  favorable  features  in  the 
condition  of  women.  The  matrons  had  often  a  considerable  influ- 
ence on  the  decisions  of  the  councils.  Lafitau,  whose  book  appeared 
in  1724,  says  that  the  nation  was  corrupt  in  his  time,  but  that  this 
was  a  degeneracy  from  their  ancient  manners.  La  Potherie  and 
Charlevoix  make  a  similar  statement.  Megapolensis,  however,  in 
1644,  says  that  they  were  then  exceedingly  debauched;  and  Green- 
halgh,  in  1677,  gives  ample  evidence  of  a  shameless  license.  One 
of  their  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  present  day  admits  that  the 
passion  of  love  among  them  had  no  other  than  an  animal  existence. 
(Morgan,  League  of  the  Iroquois,  322.)  There  is  clear  proof  that  the 
tribes  of  the  South  were  equally  corrupt.  (See  Lawson,  Carolina, 
34,  and  other  early  writers.)  On  the  other  hand,  chastity  in  women 
was  recognized  as  a  virtue  by  many  tribes.  This  was  peculiarly 
the  case  among  the  Algonquins  of  Gaspe,  where  a  lapse  in  this 
regard  was  counted  a  disgrace.  (See  Le  Clerc,  Nouvelle  Relation  de 
la  Gaspesie,  417,  where  a  contrast  is  drawn  between  the  modesty  of 
the  girls  of  this  region  and  the  open  prostitution  practised  among 
those  of  other  tribes.)  Among  the  Sioux,  adultery  on  the  part  of  a 
woman  is  punished  by  mutilation. 

The  remarkable  forbearance  observed  by  Eastern  and  Northern 
tribes  towards  female  captives  was  probably  the  result  of  a  super- 
stition. Notwithstanding  the  prevailing  license,  the  Iroquois  and 
other  tribes  had  among  themselves  certain  conventional  rules  which 
excited  the  admiration  of  the  Jesuit  celibates.  Some  of  these  had 
a  superstitious  origin;  others  were  in  accordance  with  the  iron 
requirements  of  their  savage  etiquette.  To  make  the  Indian  a  hero 
of  romance  is  mere  nonsense. 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

the  compact  was  merely  the  acceptance  of  a  gift  of 
wampum  made  by  the  suitor  to  the  object  of  his 
desire  or  his  whim.  These  gifts  were  never  returned 
on  the  dissolution  of  the  connection ;  and  as  an  attrac- 
tive and  enterprising  damsel  might,  and  often  did, 
make  twenty  such  marriages  before  her  final  estab- 
lishment, she  thus  collected  a  wealth  of  wampum 
with  which  to  adorn  herself  for  the  village  dances.1 
This  provisional  matrimony  was  no  bar  to  a  license 
boundless  and  apparently  universal,  unattended  with 
loss  of  reputation  on  either  side.  Every  instinct  of 
native  delicacy  quickly  vanished  under  the  influence 
of  Huron  domestic  life;  eight  or  ten  families,  and 
often  more,  crowded  into  one  undivided  house,  where 
privacy  was  impossible,  and  where  strangers  were 
free  to  enter  at  all  hours  of  the  day  or  night. 

Once  a  mother,  and  married  with  a  reasonable 
permanency,  the  Huron  woman  from  a  wanton  became 
a  drudge.  In  March  and  April  she  gathered  the 
year's  supply  of  firewood.  Then  came  sowing,  till- 

1  "  II  s'en  trouue  telle  qui  passe  ainsi  sa  ieunesse,  qui  aura  eu 
plus  de  vingt  maris,  lesquels  vingt  maris  ne  sont  pas  seuls  en  la 
jouyssance  de  la  beste,  quelques  mariez  qu'ils  soient :  car  la  nuict 
venue,  les  ieunes  femmes  courent  d'une  eabane  en  une  autre,  come 
font  les  ieunes  hommes  de  leur  coste',  qui  en  prennent  par  ou  bon 
leur  semble,  toutesfois  sans  violence  aucune,  et  n'en  re^oiuent 
aucune  infamie,  ny  injure,  la  coustume  du  pays  estant  telle."  — 
Champlain  (1027),  90.  Compare  Sagard,  Voyage  des  Hurons,  176. 
Both  were  personal  observers. 

The  ceremony,  even  of  the  most  serious  marriage,  consisted 
merely  in  the  bride's  bringing  a  dish  of  boiled  maize  to  the  bride- 
groom, together  with  an  armful  of  fuel.  There  was  often  a  feast 
of  the  relatives,  or  of  the  whole  village. 


HURON   TRAFFIC.  23 

ing,  and  harvesting,  smoking  fish,  dressing  skins, 
making  cordage  and  clothing,  preparing  food.  On 
the  march  it  was  she  who  bore  the  burden;  for,  in 
the  words  of  Champlain,  "their  women  were  their 
mules."  The  natural  effect  followed.  In  every 
Huron  town  were  shrivelled  hags,  hideous  and 
despised,  who  in  vindictiveness,  ferocity,  and  cruelty 
far  exceeded  the  men. 

To  the  men  fell  the  task  of  building  the  houses, 
and  making  weapons,  pipes,  and  canoes.  For  the 
rest,  their  home-life  was  a  life  of  leisure  and  amuse- 
ment. The  summer  and  autumn  were  their  seasons 
of  serious  employment,  —  of  war,  hunting,  fishing, 
and  trade.  There  was  an  established  system  of 
traffic  between  the  Hurons  and  the  Algonquins  of 
the  Ottawa  and  Lake  Nipissing :  the  Hurons  exchang- 
ing wampum,  fishing-nets,  and  corn  for  fish  and  furs. 1 
From  various  relics  found  in  their  graves,  it  may 
be  inferred  that  they  also  traded  with  tribes  of  the 
Upper  Lakes,  as  well  as  with  tribes  far  southward, 
towards  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Each  branch  of  traffic 
was  the  monopoly  of  the  family  or  clan  by  whom  it 
was  opened.  They  might,  if  they  could,  punish 
interlopers,  by  stripping  them  of  all  they  possessed, 
unless  the  latter  had  succeeded  in  reaching  home 
with  the  fruits  of  their  trade,  —  in  which  case  the 
outraged  monopolists  had  no  further  right  of  redress, 
and  could  not  attempt  it  without  a  breaking  of  the 
public  peace,  and  exposure  to  the  authorized  ven- 

i  Champlain  (1627),  84. 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

geance  of  the  other  party.1  Their  fisheries,  too,  were 
regulated  by  customs  having  the  force  of  laws. 
These  pursuits,  with  their  hunting,  —  in  which  they 
were  aided  by  a  wolfish  breed  of  dogs  unable  to  bark, 

—  consumed  the  autumn  and  early  winter ;  but  before 
the   new  year  the   greater    part   of  the   men   were 
gathered  in  their  villages. 

Now  followed  their  festal  season;  for  it  was  the 
season  of  idleness  for  the  men,  and  of  leisure  for  the 
women.  Feasts,  gambling,  smoking,  and  dancing 
filled  the  vacant  hours.  Like  other  Indians,  the 
Hurons  were  desperate  gamblers,  staking  their  all, 

—  ornaments,  clothing,  canoes,   pipes,  weapons,  and 
wives.     One   of   their  principal   games   was   played 
with  plum-stones,  or  wooden  lozenges,  black  on  one 
side  and  white  on  the  other.     These  were  tossed  up 
in  a  wooden  bowl,    by  striking  it  sharply  upon  the 
ground,  and  the  players  betted  on  the  black  or  white. 
Sometimes  a  village  challenged  a  neighboring  village. 
The  game  was  played  in  one  of  the  houses.     Strong 
poles  were  extended  from  side  to  side,  and  on  these 
sat  or  perched  the  company,  party  facing  party,  while 
two  players  struck  the  bowl  on  the  ground  between. 
Bets  ran  high;  and  Br^beuf  relates  that  once  in  mid- 
winter, with  the  snow  nearly  three  feet  deep,  the  men 
of  his  village  returned  from  a  gambling  visit  bereft 
of    their    leggins,    and    barefoot,    yet    in    excellent 
humor.2     Ludicrous  as  it  may  appear,  these  games 

1  Br£beuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1036,  156  (Cramoisy). 

2  Br^beuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  113.     This  game  is  still  a 


HURON  FESTIVITIES.  25 

were  often  medical  prescriptions,  and  designed  as  a 
cure  of  the  sick. 

Their  feasts  and  dances  were  of  various  character, 
social,  medical,  and  mystical  or  religious.  Some  of 
their  feasts  were  on  a  scale  of  extravagant  profu- 
sion. A  vain  or  ambitious  host  threw  all  his  sub- 
stance into  one  entertainment,  inviting  the  whole 
village,  and  perhaps  several  neighboring  villages 
also.  In  the  winter  of  1635  there  was  a  feast  at  the 
village  of  Contarrea,  where  thirty  kettles  were  on  the 
fires,  and  twenty  deer  and  four  bears  were  served 
up.1  The  invitation  was  simple.  The  messenger 
addressed  the  desired  guest  with  the  concise  sum- 
mons, "Come  and  eat;"  and  to  refuse  was  a  grave 
offence.  He  took  his  dish  and  spoon,  and  repaired 
to  the  scene  of  festivity.  Each,  as  he  entered, 
greeted  his  host  with  the  guttural  ejaculation,  Ho! 
and  ranged  himself  Avith  the  rest,  squatted  on  the 
earthen  floor  or  on  the  platform  along  the  sides  of 
the  house.  The  kettles  were  slung  over  the  fires  in 
the  midst.  First,  there  was  a  long  prelude  of  lugu- 
brious singing.  Then  the  host,  who  took  no  share 
in  the  feast,  proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice  the  contents 
of  each  kettle  in  turn,  and  at  each  announcement  the 
company  responded  in  unison,  Ho!  The  attendant 
squaws  filled  with  their  ladles  the  bowls  of  all  the 

favorite  among  the  Iroquois,  some  of  whom  hold  to  the  belief  that 
they  will  play  it  after  death  in  the  realms  of  bliss.     In  all  their 
important  games  of  chance,  they  employed  charms,  incantations, 
and  all  the  resources  of  their  magical  art,  to  gain  good  luck. 
1  Bre"beuf,  Relation  des  Ifurons,  1636,  111, 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

guests.  There  was  talking,  laughing,  jesting,  sing- 
ing, and  smoking;  and  at  times  the  entertainment 
was  protracted  through  the  day. 

When  the  feast  had  a  medical  or  mystic  charac- 
ter, it  was  indispensable  that  each  guest  should 
devour  the  whole  of  the  portion  given  him,  however 
enormous.  Should  he  fail,  the  host  would  be  out- 
raged, the  community  shocked,  and  the  spirits  roused 
to  vengeance.  Disaster  would  befall  the  nation,  — • 
death,  perhaps,  the  individual.  In  some  cases,  the 
imagined  efficacy  of  the  feast  was  proportioned  to 
the  rapidity  with  which  the  viands  were  despatched. 
Prizes  of  tobacco  were  offered  to  the  most  rapid 
feeder;  and  the  spectacle  then  became  truly  porcine.1 
These  festins  h  manger  tout  were  much  dreaded  by 
many  of  the  Hurons,  who,  however,  were  never 
known  to  decline  them. 

Invitation  to  a  dance  was  no  less  concise  than  to  a 
feast.  Sometimes  a  crier  proclaimed  the  approach- 
ing festivity  through  the  village.  The  house  was 
crowded.  Old  men,  old  women,  and  children 
thronged  the  platforms,  or  clung  to  the  poles  which 
supported  the  sides  and  roof.  Fires  were  raked  out, 
and  the  earthen  floor  cleared.  Two  chiefs  sang  at 
the  top  of  their  voices,  keeping  time  to  their  song 

1  This  superstition  was  not  confined  to  the  Hurons,  but  extended 
to  many  other  tribes,  including,  probably,  all  the  Algonquins,  with 
some  of  which  it  holds  in  full  force  to  this  day.  A  feaster,  unable 
to  do  his  full  part,  might,  if  he  could,  hire  another  to  aid  him; 
otherwise,  he  must  remain  in  his  place  till  the  work  was  done. 


HURON  FESTIVITIES.  27 

with  tortoise-shell  rattles.1  The  men  danced  with 
great  violence  and  gesticulation;  the  women,  with  a 
much  more  measured  action.  The  former  were 
nearly  divested  of  clothing,  —  in  mystical  dances, 
sometimes  wholly  so;  and,  from  a  superstitious 
motive,  this  was  now  and  then  the  case  with  the 
women.  Both,  however,  were  abundantly  decorated 
with  paint,  oil,  beads,  wampum,  trinkets,  and 
feathers. 

Religious  festivals,  councils,  the  entertainment  of 
an  envoy,  the  inauguration  of  a  chief,  were  all  occa- 
sions of  festivity,  in  which  social  pleasure  was  joined 
with  matter  of  grave  import,  and  which  at  times 
gathered  nearly  all  the  nation  into  one  great  and  har- 
monious concourse.  Warlike  expeditions,  too,  were 
always  preceded  by  feasting,  at  which  the  warriors 
vaunted  the  fame  of  their  ancestors,  and  their  own 
past  and  prospective  exploits.  A  hideous  scene  of 
feasting  followed  the  torture  of  a  prisoner.  Like  the 
torture  itself,  it  was,  among  the  Hurons,  partly  an 
act  of  vengeance,  and  partly  a  religious  rite.  If  the 

1  Sagard  gives  specimens  of  their  songs.  In  both  dances  and 
feasts  there  was  no  little  variety.  These  were  sometimes  combined. 
It  is  impossible,  in  brief  space,  to  indicate  more  than  their  general 
features.  In  the  famous  "  war-dance,"  —  which  was  frequently 
danced,  as  it  still  is,  for  amusement,  —  speeches,  exhortations,  jests, 
personal  satire,  and  repartee  were  commonly  introduced  as  a  part 
of  the  performance,  sometimes  by  way  of  patriotic  stimulus,  some- 
times for  amusement.  The  music  in  this  case  was  the  drum  and 
the  war-song.  Some  of  the  other  dances  were  also  interspersed 
with  speeches  and  sharp  witticisms,  always  taken  in  good  part, 
though  Lafitau  says  that  he  has  seen  the  victim  so  pitilessly  ban- 
tered that  he  was  forced  to  hide  his  head  in  his  blanket. 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

victim  had  shown  courage,  the  heart  was  first  roasted, 
cut  into  small  pieces,  and  given  to  the  young  men 
and  boys,  who  devoured  it  to  increase  their  own 
courage.  The  body  was  then  divided,  thrown  into 
the  kettles,  and  eaten  by  the  assembly,  the  head 
being  the  portion  of  the  chief.  Many  of  the  Hurons 
joined  in  the  feast  with  reluctance  and  horror,  while 
others  took  pleasure  in  it.1  This  was  the  only  form 
of  cannibalism  among  them,  since,  unlike  the  wan- 
dering Algonquins,  they  were  rarely  under  the 
desperation  of  extreme  famine. 

A  great  knowledge  of  simples  for  the  cure  of 
disease  is  popularly  ascribed  to  the  Indian.  Here, 
however,  as  elsewhere,  his  knowledge  is  in  fact 
scanty.  He  rarely  reasons  from  cause  to  effect,  or 
from  effect  to  cause.  Disease,  in  his  belief,  is  the 
result  of  sorcery,  the  agency  of  spirits  or  supernatural 
influences,  undefined  and  indefinable.  The  Indian 
doctor  was  a  conjurer,  and  his  remedies  were  to  the 
last  degree  preposterous,  ridiculous,  or  revolting. 
The  well-known  Indian  sweating-bath  is  the  most 

1  "II  y  en  a  qui  en  mangent  auec  plaisir."  —  Brebeuf,  Relation 
des  Hurons,  1636,  121.  Le  Mercier  gives  a  description  of  one  of 
these  scenes,  at  which  he  was  present.  (Ibid.,  1637,  118.)  The 
same  horrible  practice  prevailed  to  a  greater  extent  among  the 
Iroquois.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  Indian  canni- 
balism is  that  furnished  by  a  Western  tribe,  the  Miamis,  among 
whom  there  was  a  clan,  or  family,  whose  hereditary  duty  and  privi- 
lege it  was  to  devour  the  bodies  of  prisoners  burned  to  death.  The 
act  had  somewhat  of  a  religious  character,  was  attended  with  cere- 
monial observances,  and  was  restricted  to  the  family  in  question. 
See  Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  in  the  appendix  to  Colonel  Whiting's  poem, 
"  Ontwa." 


HURON  MEDICINE.  29 

prominent  of  the  few  means  of  cure  based  on  agencies 
simply  physical ;  and  this,  with  all  the  other  natural 
remedies,  was  applied,  not  by  the  professed  doctor, 
but  by  the  sufferer  himself,  or  his  friends.1 

The  Indian  doctor  beat,  shook,  and  pinched  his 
patient,  howled,  whooped,  rattled  a  tortoise-shell  at 
his  ear  to  expel  the  evil  spirit,  bit  him  till  blood 
flowed,  and  then  displayed  in  triumph  a  small  piece 
of  wood,  bone,  or  iron,  which  he  had  hidden  in  his 
mouth,  and  which  he  affirmed  was  the  source  of  the 
disease,  now  happily  removed.2  Sometimes  he  pre- 
scribed a  dance,  feast,  or  game ;  and  the  whole  village 
bestirred  themselves  to  fulfil  the  injunction  to  the 
letter.  They  gambled  away  their  all;  they  gorged 
themselves  like  vultures ;  they  danced  or  played  ball 
naked  among  the  snowdrifts  from  morning  till  night. 
At  a  medical  feast,  some  strange  or  unusual  act  was 
commonly  enjoined  as  vital  to  the  patient's  cure :  as, 
for  example,  the  departing  guest,  in  place  of  the  cus- 

1  The  Indians  had  many  simple  applications  for  wounds,  said  to 
have  been  very  efficacious ;  but  the  purity  of  their  blood,  owing  to 
the  absence  from  their  diet  of  condiments  and  stimulants,  as  well 
as  to  their  active  habits,  aided  the  remedy.     In  general,  they  were 
remarkably  exempt  from  disease  or  deformity,  though  often  seri- 
ously injured  by  alternations  of  hunger  and  excess.    The  Hurons 
sometimes  died  from  the  effects  of  their  festins  a  manger  tout. 

2  The  Hurons  believed  that  the  chief  cause  of  disease  and  death 
was  a  monstrous  serpent,  that  lived  under  the  earth.     By  touching 
a  tuft  of  hair,  a  feather,  or  a  fragment  of  bone,  with  a  portion  of 
his  flesh  or  fat,  the  sorcerer  imparted  power  to  it  of  entering  the 
body  of  his  victim,  and  gradually  killing  him.     It  was  an  important 
part  of  the  doctor's   function   to    extract  these  charms  from  the 
vitals  of  his  patient.     Ragueneau,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1648,  75. 


30  INTRODUCTION. 

ternary  monosyllable  of  thanks,  was  required  to 
greet  his  host  with  an  ugly  grimace.  Sometimes,  by 
prescription,  half  the  village  would  throng  into  the 
house  where  the  patient  lay,  led  by  old  women  dis- 
guised with  the  heads  and  skins  of  bears,  and  beating 
with  sticks  on  sheets  of  dry  bark.  Here  the  assembly 
danced  and  whooped  for  hours  together,  with  a  din 
to  which  a  civilized  patient  would  promptly  have 
succumbed.  Sometimes  the  doctor  wrought  himself 
into  a  prophetic  fury,  raving  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  dwelling,  snatching  firebrands  and 
flinging  them  about  him,  to  the  terror  of  the  squaws, 
with  whom,  in  their  combustible  tenements,  fire  was 
a  constant  bugbear. 

Among  the  Hurons  and  kindred  tribes,  disease  was 
frequently  ascribed  to  some  hidden  wish  ungratified. 
Hence  the  patient  was  overwhelmed  with  gifts,  in 
the  hope  that  in  their  multiplicity  the  desideratum 
might  be  supplied.  Kettles,  skins,  awls,  pipes, 
wampum,  fish-hooks,  weapons,  objects  of  every  con- 
ceivable variety,  were  piled  before  him  by  a  host  of 
charitable  contributors ;  and  if,  as  often  happened,  a 
dream,  the  Indian  oracle,  had  revealed  to  the  sick 
man  the  secret  of  his  cure,  his  demands  were  never 
refused,  however  extravagant,  idle,  nauseous,  or 
abominable.1  Hence  it  is  no  matter  of  wonder  that 

1  "  Dans  le  pays  de  nos  Hurons,  il  se  faict  aussi  des  assemble'es  de 
toutes  les  filles  d'vn  bourg  aupres  d'vne  malade,  tant  &  sa  priere, 
suyuant  la  resuerie  ou  le  songe  qu'elle  en  aura  cue,  que  par  1'or- 
donnance  de  Loki  (the  doctor),  pour  sa  sante  et  guerison.  Les  filles 
ainsi  assemblies,  on  leur  demande  k  toutes,  les  vnes  apres  les  autres, 


THE  HURON-IROQUOIS.  31 

sudden  illness  and  sudden  cures  were  frequent  among 
the  Hurons.  The  patient  reaped  profit,  and  the 
doctor  both  profit  and  honor. 

THE   HURON-IROQUOIS  FAMILY. 

And  now,  before  entering  upon  the  very  curious 
subject  of  Indian  social  and  tribal  organization,  it 
may  be  well  briefly  to  observe  the  position  and  promi- 
nent distinctive  features  of  the  various  communities 
speaking  dialects  of  the  generic  tongue  of  the  Iroquois. 
In  this  remarkable  family  of  tribes  occur  the  fullest 
developments  of  Indian  character,  and  the  most  con- 
spicuous examples  of  Indian  intelligence.  If  the 
higher  traits  popularly  ascribed  to  the  race  are  not  to 
be  found  here,  they  are  to  be  found  nowhere.  A  pal- 

celuy  qu'ellos  veulent  des  ieunes  hommes  du  bourg  pour  dormir 
auec  elles  la  nuict  prochaine :  elles  en  nomment  chacune  vn,  qui 
sont  aussi-tost  aduertis  par  les  Maistres  de  la  ceremonie,  lesquels 
viennent  tous  au  soir  en  la  presence  de  la  malade  dormir  chacun 
auec  celle  qui  1'a  choysi,  d'vn  bout  a  1'autre  de  la  Cabane  et 
passent  ainsi  toute  la  nuict,  pendant  que  deux  Capitaines  aux  deux 
bouts  du  logis  chantent  et  sonnent  de  leur  Tortue"  du  soir  au  lende- 
main  matin,  que  la  ceremonie  cesse.  Dieu  vueille  abolir  vne  si 
damnable  et  malheureuse  ceremonie."  —  Sagard,  Voyage  des  Hurons, 
158.  This  unique  mode  of  cure,  which  was  called  Andacwandet,  is 
also  described  by  Lalemant,  who  saw  it.  (Relation  des  Hurons, 
1639,  84.)  It  was  one  of  the  recognized  remedies. 

For  the  medical  practices  of  the  Hurons,  see  also  Champlain, 
Brebeuf,  Lafitau,  Charlevoix,  and  other  early  writers.  Those  of 
the  Algonquins  were  in  some  points  different.  The  doctor  often 
consulted  the  spirits,  to  learn  the  cause  and  cure  of  the  disease,  by 
a  method  peculiar  to  that  family  of  tribes.  He  shut  himself  in  a 
small  conical  lodge,  and  the  spirits  here  visited  him,  manifesting 
their  presence  by  a  violent  shaking  of  the  whole  structure.  This 
superstition  will  be  described  in  another  connection. 


32  INTRODUCTION. 

pable  proof  of  the  superiority  of  this  stock  is  afforded 
in  the  size  of  the  Iroquois  and  Huron  brains.  In 
average  internal  capacity  of  the  cranium,  they  sur- 
pass, with  few  and  doubtful  exceptions,  all  other 
aborigines  of  North  and  South  America,  not  except- 
ing the  civilized  races  of  Mexico  and  Peru.1 

In  the  woody  valleys  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  south 
of  the  Nottawassaga  Bay  of  Lake  Huron,  and  two 
days'  journey  west  of  the  frontier  Huron  towns, 
lay  the  nine  villages  of  the  Tobacco  Nation,  or 
Tionnontates.2  In  manners,  as  in  language,  they 
closely  resembled  the  Hurons.  Of  old  they  were 
their  enemies,  but  were  now  at  peace  with  them,  and 
about  the  year  1640  became  their  close  confederates. 
Indeed,  in  the  ruin  which  befell  that  hapless  people, 
the  Tionnontates  alone  retained  a  tribal  organization ; 
and  their  descendants,  with  a  trifling  exception,  are 
to  this  day  the  sole  inheritors  of  the  Huron  or 
Wyandot  name.  Expatriated  and  wandering,  they 
held  for  generations  a  paramount  influence  among 

1  "  On  comparing  five  Iroquois  heads,  I  find  that  they  give  an 
average  internal  capacity  of  eighty-eight  cubic   inches,  which   is 
within  two  inches  of  the  Caucasian  mean."  —  Morton,  Crania  Amer- 
icana, 195.    It  is  remarkable  that  the  internal  capacity  of  the  skulls 
of  the  barbarous  American  tribes  is  greater  than  that  of  either  the 
Mexicans  or  the  Peruvians.    "  The  difference  in  volume  is  chiefly 
confined  to  the  occipital  and  basal  portions,"  —  in  other  words,  to 
the  region  of  the  animal  propensities ;  and  hence,  it  is  argued,  the 
ferocious,  brutal,  and  uncivilizable  character  of  the  wild  tribes. 
See  J.  S.  Phillips,  Admeasurements  of  Crania  of  the  Principal  Groups 
of  Indians  in  the  United  States. 

2  Synonymes :  Tionnontates,  Etionontates,  Tuinontatek,  Dionon- 
dadies,  Khionontaterrhonons,  Petuneux  or  Nation  du  Petun   (To- 
bacco). 


THE  NEUTRAL  NATION.  33 

the  Western  tribes.1  In  their  original  seats  among 
the  Blue  Mountains,  they  offered  an  example 
extremely  rare  among  Indians,  of  a  tribe  raising  a 
crop  for  the  market;  for  they  traded  in  tobacco 
largely  with  other  tribes.  Their  Huron  confederates, 
keen  traders,  would  not  suffer  them  to  pass  through 
their  country  to  traffic  with  the  French,  preferring  to 
secure  for  themselves  the  advantage  of  bartering 
with  them  in  French  goods  at  an  enormous  profit.2 

Journeying  southward  five  days  from  the  Tionnon- 
tate  towns,  the  forest  traveller  reached  the  border 
villages  of  the  Attiwandarons,  or  Neutral  Nation.3 
As  early  as  1626,  they  were  visited  by  the  Franciscan 
friar,  La  Roche  Dallion,  who  reports  a  numerous 
population  in  twenty-eight  towns,  besides  many  small 
hamlets.  Their  country,  about  forty  leagues  in 
extent,  embraced  wide  and  fertile  districts  on  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  their  frontier  extended 
eastward  across  the  Niagara,  where  they  had  three  or 
four  outlying  towns.4  Their  name  of  "Neutrals" 

1  "L'ame  de  tous  les  Conseils."  —  Charlevoix,  Voyage,  199.    In 
1763  they  were  Pontiac's  best  warriors. 

2  On  the  Tionnontates,  see  Le  Mercier,  Relation,  1637,  163 ;  Lale- 
mant,  Relation,  1641,  69;  Ragueneau,  Relation,  1648,  61.    An  excel- 
lent summary  of  their  character  and  history,  by  Mr.  Shea,  will  be 
found  in  Hist.  Mag.,  v.  262. 

8  Attiwandarons,  Attiwendaronk,  Atirhagenrenrets,  Rhagenratka 
(Jesuit  Relations),  Attionidarons  (Sagard).  They,  and  not  the 
Eries,  were  the  Kahkicas  of  Seneca  tradition. 

4  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1641,  71.  The  Niagara  was 
then  called  the  "  River  of  the  Neutrals,"  or  the  Onguiaahra.  Lale- 
mant estimates  the  Neutral  population,  in  1640,  at  twelve  thousand, 
in  forty  villages. 

VOL.  i —  ct 


34  INTRODUCTION. 

was  due  to  their  neutrality  in  the  war  between  the 
Hurons  and  the  Iroquois  proper.  The  hostile  war- 
riors, meeting  in  a  Neutral  cabin,  were  forced  to  keep 
the  peace,  though,  once  in  the  open  air,  the  truce 
was  at  an  end.  Yet  this  people  were  abundantly 
ferocious,  and,  while  holding  a  pacific  attitude  betwixt 
their  warring  kindred,  waged  deadly  strife  with 
the  Mascoutins,  an  Algonquin  horde  beyond  Lake 
Michigan.  Indeed,  it  was  but  recently  that  they 
had  been  at  blows  with  seventeen  Algonquin  tribes.1 
They  burned  female  prisoners,  a  practice  unknown  to 
the  Hurons.2  Their  country  was  full  of  game,  and 
they  were  bold  and  active  hunters.  In  form  and 
stature  they  surpassed  even  the  Hurons,  whom  they 
resembled  in  their  mode  of  life,  and  from  whose 
language  their  own,  though  radically  similar,  was 
dialectically  distinct.  Their  licentiousness  was  even 
more  open  and  shameless;  and  they  stood  alone  in 
the  extravagance  of  some  of  their  usages.  They  kept 
their  dead  in  their  houses  till  they  became  insupport- 
able ;  then  scraped  the  flesh  from  the  bones,  and  dis- 
played them  in  rows  along  the  walls,  there  to  remain 
till  the  periodical  Feast  of  the  Dead,  or  general 
burial.  In  summer,  the  men  wore  no  clothing  what- 
ever, but  were  usually  tattooed  from  head  to  foot 
with  powdered  charcoal. 

1  Lettre  du  Pere  La  Roche  Dallion,  8  Juillet,  1627,  in  Le  Clerc, 
jStablissement  de  la  Foy,  i.  346. 

2  Women  were  often  burned  by  the  Iroquois :  witness  the  case 
of  Catherine  Mercier  in  1651,  and  many  cases  of  Indian  women 
mentioned  by  the  early  writers. 


THE   "NATION  OF  THE  CAT."  35 

The  sagacious  Hurons  refused  them  a  passage 
through  their  country  to  the  French ;  and  the  Neutrals 
apparently  had  not  sense  or  reflection  enough  to  take 
the  easy  and  direct  route  of  Lake  Ontario,  —  which 
was  probably  open  to  them,  though  closed  against 
the  Hurons  by  Iroquois  enmity.  Thus  the  former 
made  excellent  profit  by  exchanging  French  goods  at 
high  rates  for  the  valuable  furs  of  the  Neutrals.1 

Southward  and  eastward  of  Lake  Erie  dwelt  a 
kindred  people,  the  Eries,  or  "Nation  of  the  Cat." 
Little  besides  their  existence  is  known  of  them. 
They  seem  to  have  occupied  southwestern  New  York, 
as  far  east  as  the  Genesee,  the  frontier  of  the  Senecas, 
and  in  habits  and  language  to  have  resembled  the 
Hurons.2  They  were  noted  warriors,  fought  with 
poisoned  arrows,  and  were  long  a  terror  to  the  neigh- 
boring Iroquois.3 

1  The   Hurons  became  very  jealous,  when  La   Roche  Dallion 
visited  the  Neutrals,  lest  a  direct  trade  should  be  opened  between 
the  latter  and  the  French,  against  whom  they  at  once  put  in  circu- 
lation a  variety  of  slanders,  —  that  they  were  a  people  who  lived  on 
snakes  and  venom ;  that  they  were  furnished  with  tails ;  and  that 
French  women,  though  having  but  one  breast,  bore  six  children  at 
a  birth.    The  missionary  nearly  lost  his  life  in  consequence,  the 
Neutrals  conceiving  the  idea  that  he  would  infect  their  country 
with  a  pestilence.    La  Roche  Dallion,  in  Le  Clerc,  i.  346. 

2  Ragueneau,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1648,  46. 

*  Le  Mercier,  Relation,  1654,  10.  "  Nous  les  appellons  la  Nation 
Chat,  a  cause  qu'il  y  a  dans  leur  pais  vne  quantite  prodigieuse  de 
Chats  sauuages."  —  Ibid.  The  Iroquois  are  said  to  have  given  the 
same  name,  Jeyosasa,  Cat  Nation,  to  the  Neutrals.  —  Morgan,  League 
of  the  Iroquois,  41. 

Synonymes :  Eries,  Erigas,  Eriehronon,  Riguehronon.  The  Jesuits 
never  had  a  mission  among  them,  though  they  seem  to  have  been 


S6  INTRODUCTION. 

On  the  Lower  Susquehanna  dwelt  the  formidable 
tribe  called  by  the  French  Andastes.  Little  is  known 
of  them,  beyond  their  general  resemblance  to  their 
kindred,  in  language,  habits,  and  character.  Fierce 
and  resolute  warriors,  they  long  made  head  against 
the  Iroquois  of  New  York,  and  were  vanquished  at 
last  more  by  disease  than  by  the  tomahawk.1 

In  central  New  York,  stretching  east  and  west 
from  the  Hudson  to  the  Genesee,  lay  that  redoubted 
people  who  have  lent  their  name  to  the  tribal  family 
of  the  Iroquois,  and  stamped  it  indelibly  on  the  early 
pages  of  American  history.  Among  all  the  barbarous 
nations  of  the  continent,  the  Iroquois  of  New  York 
stand  paramount.  Elements  which  among  other 
tribes  were  crude,  confused,  and  embryotic  were 
among  them  systematized  and  concreted  into  an 
established  polity.  The  Iroquois  was  the  Indian  of 
Indians.  A  thorough  savage,  yet  a  finished  and 
developed  savage,  he  is  perhaps  an  example  of  the 
highest  elevation  which  man  can  reach  without  emerg- 
ing from  his  primitive  condition  of  the  hunter.  A 
geographical  position,  commanding  on  one  hand  the 

visited  by  Champlain's  adventurous  interpreter,  Etienne  Brute,  in 
the  summer  of  1615.  They  are  probably  the  Carantoiians  of 
Champlain. 

1  Gallatin  erroneously  places  the  Andastes  on  the  Alleghany, 
Bancroft  and  others  adopting  the  error.  The  research  of  Mr.  Shea 
has  shown  their  identity  with  the  Susquehannocks  of  the  English, 
and  the  Minquas  of  the  Dutch.  —  See  Hist.  Mag.,  ii.  294. 

Synonymes :  Andastes,  Andastracronnons,  Andastaeronnons,  An- 
dastaguez,  Antastoui  (French),  Susquehannocks  (English),  Mengwe, 
Minquas  (Dutch),  Conestogas,  Conessetagoes  (English). 


THE  IROQUOIS.  87 

portal  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  on  the  other  the 
sources  of  the  streams  flowing  both  to  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Mississippi,  gave  the  ambitious  and  aggres- 
sive confederates  advantages  which  they  perfectly 
understood,  and  by  which  they  profited  to  the  utmost. 
Patient  and  politic  as  they  were  ferocious,  they  were 
not  only  conquerors  of  their  own  race,  but  the  power- 
ful allies  and  the  dreaded  foes  of  the  French  and 
English  colonies,  flattered  and  caressed  by  both,  yet 
too  sagacious  to  give  themselves  without  reserve  to 
either.  Their  organization  and  their  history  evince 
their  intrinsic  superiority.  Even  their  traditionary 
lore,  amid  its  wild  puerilities,  shows  at  times  the 
stamp  of  an  energy  and  force  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  flimsy  creations  of  Algonquin  fancy.  That 
the  Iroquois,  left  under  their  institutions  to  work  out 
their  destiny  undisturbed,  would  ever  have  developed 
a  civilization  of  their  own,  I  do  not  believe.  These 
institutions,  however,  are  sufficiently  characteristic 
and  curious,  and  we  shall  soon  have  occasion  to 
observe  them.1 

1  The  name  Iroquois  is  French.  Charlevoix  says  :  "  II  a  £te  forme 
du  terme  Hi.ro,  ou  Hero,  qui  signifie  J'ai  dit,  et  par  lequel  ces  sauvages 
finissent  tous  leur  discours,  comme  les  Latins  faisoient  autrefois 
par  leur  Dixi ;  et  de  Koue,  qui  est  un  cri  tantot  de  tristesse,  lorsqu'on 
le  prononce  en  trainant,  et  tantot  de  joye,  quand  on  le  prononce 
plus  court."  —  Hist,  de  la  N.  F.,  i.  271.  Their  true  name  is  Hodeno- 
saunee,  or  "  People  of  the  Long  House,"  because  their  confederacy 
of  five  distinct  nations,  ranged  in  a  line  along  central  New  York, 
was  likened  to  one  of  the  long  bark  houses  already  described,  with 
five  fires  and  five  families.  The  name  Agonnonsionni,  or  Aquanuscioni, 
ascribed  to  them  by  Lafitau  and  Charlevoix,  who  translated  it 
"  House-makers,"  Faiseurs  de  Cabannes,  may  be  a  conversion  of  the 


38  INTRODUCTION. 

SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  OKGANIZATION. 

In  Indian  social  organization,  a  problem  at  once 
suggests  itself.  In  these  communities,  comparatively 
populous,  how  could  spirits  so  fierce,  and  in  many 
respects  so  ungoverned,  live  together  in  peace,  with- 
out law  and  without  enforced  authority  ?  Yet  there 
were  towns  where  savages  lived  together  in  thou- 
sands, with  a  harmony  which  civilization  might  envy. 
This  was  in  good  measure  due  to  peculiarities  of 
Indian  character  and  habits.  This  intractable  race 
were,  in  certain  external  respects,  the  most  pliant 
and  complaisant  of  mankind.  The  early  missionaries 
were  charmed  by  the  docile  acquiescence  with  which 
their  dogmas  were  received ;  but  they  soon  discovered 
that  their  facile  auditors  neither  believed  nor  under- 
stood that  to  which  they  had  so  promptly  assented. 
They  assented  from  a  kind  of  courtesy,  which,  while 
it  vexed  the  priests,  tended  greatly  to  keep  the 
Indians  in  mutual  accord.  That  well-known  self- 
true  name  with  an  erroneous  rendering.  The  following  are  the 
true  names  of  the  five  nations  severally,  with  their  French  and 
English  synonymes.  For  other  synonymes,  see  "  History  of  the 
Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,"  chapter  i.,  note. 

English.  French. 


Ganeagaono, 

Mohawk, 

Agnier. 

Onayotekaono, 

Oneida, 

Onneyut. 

Onundagaono, 

Onondaga, 

Onnontague*. 

Gweugwehono, 

Cayuga, 

Goyogouin. 

Nundawaono, 

Seneca, 

Tsonnontouans. 

The  Iroquois  termination  in  ono  —  or  onon,  as  the  French  write  it 
•—  simply  means  people. 


INDIAN  GENEROSITY.  39 

control,  which,  originating  in  a  form  of  pride,  covered 
the  savage  nature  of  the  man  with  a  veil,  opaque, 
though  thin,  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  same  end. 
Though  vain,  arrogant,  boastful,  and  vindictive,  the 
Indian  bore  abuse  and  sarcasm  with  an  astonishing 
patience.  Though  greedy  and  grasping,  he  was 
lavish  without  stint,  and  would  give  away  his  all  to 
soothe  the  manes  of  a  departed  relative,  gain  influence 
and  applause,  or  ingratiate  himself  with  his  neigh- 
bors. In  his  dread  of  public  opinion,  he  rivalled 
some  of  his  civilized  successors. 

All  Indians,  and  especially  these  populous  and 
stationary  tribes,  had  their  code  of  courtesy,  whose 
requirements  were  rigid  and  exact;  nor  might  any 
infringe  it  without  the  ban  of  public  censure.  Indian 
nature,  inflexible  and  unmalleable,  was  peculiarly 
under  the  control  of  custom.  Established  usage  took 
the  place  of  law,  —  was,  in  fact,  a  sort  of  common 
law,  with  no  tribunal  to  expound  or  enforce  it.  In 
these  wild  democracies,  —  democracies  in  spirit, 
though  not  in  form,  —  a  respect  for  native  superior- 
ity, and  a  willingness  to  yield  to  it,  were  always  con- 
spicuous. All  were  prompt  to  aid  each  other  in 
distress,  and  a  neighborly  spirit  was  often  exhibited 
among  them.  When  a  young  woman  was  perma- 
nently married,  the  other  women  of  the  village 
supplied  her  with  firewood  for  the  year,  each  contrib- 
uting an  armful.  When  one  or  more  families  were 
without  shelter,  the  men  of  the  village  joined  in 
building  them  a  house.  In  return,  the  recipients  of 


40  INTRODUCTION. 

the  favor  gave  a  feast,  if  they  could;  if  not,  their 
thanks  were  sufficient.1  Among  the  Iroquois  and 
Hurons  —  and  doubtless  among  the  kindred  tribes  — 
there  were  marked  distinctions  of  noble  and  base, 
prosperous  and  poor;  yet  while  there  was  food  in  the 
village,  the  meanest  and  the  poorest  need  not  suffer 
want.  He  had  but  to  enter  the  nearest  house,  and 
seat  himself  by  the  fire,  when,  without  a  word  on 
either  side,  food  was  placed  before  him  by  the 
women.2 

Contrary  to  the  received  opinion,  these  Indians, 
like  others  of  their  race,  when  living  in  communities, 
were  of  a  very  social  disposition.  Besides  their  inces- 
sant dances  and  feasts,  great  and  small,  they  were 
continually  visiting,  spending  most  of  their  time  in 
their  neighbors'  houses,  chatting,  joking,  bantering 


1  The  following  testimony  concerning  Indian  charity  and  hospi- 
tality is  from  Kaguenean  :  "  As  often  as  we  have  seen  tribes  broken 
up,  towns  destroyed,  and  their  people  driven  to  flight,  we  have  seen 
them,  to  the  number  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  persons,  received 
with  open  arms  by  charitable  hosts,  who  gladly  gave  them  aid,  and 
even  distributed  among  them  a  part  of  the  lands  already  planted, 
that  they  might  have  the  means  of  living."  —  Relation,  1650,  28. 

a  The  Jesuit  Brebeuf,  than  whom  no  one  knew  the  Hurons  better, 
is  very  emphatic  in  praise  of  their  harmony  and  social  spirit. 
Speaking  of  one  of  the  four  nations  of  which  the  Hurons  were 
composed,  he  says :  "  Us  ont  vne  douceur  et  vne  affabilite  quasi 
incroyable  pour  des  Sauuages ;  ils  ne  se  picquent  pas  aise'ment.  .  .  . 
Ils  se  maintiennent  dans  cette  si  parfaite  intelligence  par  les  fre- 
quentes  visites,  les  secours  qu'ils  se  donnent  mutuellement  dans 
leurs  maladies,  par  les  festins  et  les  alliances.  ...  Ils  sont  moins 
en  leurs  Cabanes  que  chez  leurs  amis.  .  .  .  S'ils  ont  vn  bon  mor- 
ceau,  ils  en  font  festin  k  leurs  amis,  et  ne  le  mangent  quasi  iamais 
en  leur  particulier,"  etc.  —  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  118. 


INDIAN  RULE  OF  DESCENT.  41 

one  another  with  witticisms,  sharp,  broad,  and  in  no 
sense  delicate,  yet  always  taken  in  good  part.  Every 
village  had  its  adepts  in  these  wordy  tournaments, 
while  the  shrill  laugh  of  young  squaws,  untaught  to 
blush,  echoed  each  hardy  jest  or  rough  sarcasm. 

In  the  organization  of  the  savage  communities  of 
the  continent,  one  feature,  more  or  less  conspicuous, 
continually  appears.  Each  nation  or  tribe  —  to  adopt 
the  names  by  which  these  communities  are  usually 
known  —  is  subdivided  into  several  clans.  These 
clans  are  not  locally  separate,  but  are  mingled 
throughout  the  nation.  All  the  members  of  each 
clan  are,  or  are  assumed  to  be,  intimately  joined  in 
consanguinity.  Hence  it  is  held  an  abomination  for 
two  persons  of  the  same  clan  to  intermarry;  and 
hence,  again,  it  follows  that  every  family  must  con- 
tain members  of  at  least  two  clans.  Each  clan  has 
its  name,  as  the  clan  of  the  Hawk,  of  the  Wolf,  or 
of  the  Tortoise;  and  each  has  for  its  emblem  the 
figure  of  the  beast,  bird,  reptile,  plant,  or  other 
object,  from  which  its  name  is  derived.  This 
emblem,  called  totem  by  the  Algonquins,  is  often 
tattooed  on  the  clansman's  body,  or  rudely  painted 
over  the  entrance  of  his  lodge.  The  child  belongs, 
in  most  cases,  to  the  clan,  not  of  the  father,  but  of 
the  mother.  In  other  words,  descent,  not  of  the 
totem  alone,  but  of  all  rank,  titles,  and  possessions, 
is  through  the  female.  The  son  of  a  chief  can  never 
be  a  chief  by  hereditary  title,  though  he  may  become 
so  by  force  of  personal  influence  or  achievement. 


42  INTRODUCTION. 

Neither  can  he  inherit  from  his  father  so  much  as  a 
tobacco-pipe.  All  possessions  alike  pass  of  right  to 
the  brothers  of  the  chief,  or  to  the  sons  of  his  sisters, 
since  these  are  all  sprung  from  a  common  mother. 
This  rule  of  descent  was  noticed  by  Champlain  among 
the  Hurons  in  1615.  That  excellent  observer  refers 
it  to  an  origin  which  is  doubtless  its  true  one.  The 
child  may  not  be  the  son  of  his  reputed  father,  but 
must  be  the  son  of  his  mother,  —  a  consideration  of 
more  than  ordinary  force  in  an  Indian  community.1 

This  system  of  clanship,  with  the  rule  of  descent 
usually  belonging  to  it,  was  of  very  wide  prevalence. 
Indeed,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  close  observa- 
tion would  have  detected  it  in  every  tribe  east  of  the 
Mississippi;  while  there  is  positive  evidence  of  its 
existence  in  by  far  the  greater  number.  It  is  found 
also  among  the  Dahcotah  and  other  tribes  west  of  the 
Mississippi;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  it  uni- 
versally prevalent  as  far  as  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
even  beyond  them.  The  fact  that  with  most  of  these 
hordes  there  is  little  property  worth  transmission,  and 
that  the  most  influential  becomes  chief,  with  little 
regard  to  inheritance,  has  blinded  casual  observers  to 
the  existence  of  this  curious  system. 

1  "  Les  enfans  ne  succedent  iamais  aux  biens  et  dignitez  de  leurs 
peres,  doubtant  comme  i'ay  dit  de  leur  geniteur,  mais  bien  font-ils 
leurs  successeurs  et  heritiers,  les  enfans  de  leurs  sceurs,  et  desquels 
ils  sont  asseurez  d'estre  yssus  et  sortis."  —  Champlain  (1627),  91. 

Captain  John  Smith  had  observed  the  same,  several  years  before, 
among  the  tribes  of  Virginia  :  "  For  the  Crowne,  their  heyres  inherite 
not,  but  the  first  heyres  of  the  Sisters."  —  True  Relation,  43  (ed. 
Deane). 


INDIAN  RULE  OF  DESCENT.  43 

It  was  found  in  full  development  among  the  Creeks, 
Choctaws,  Cherokees,  and  other  Southern  tribes, 
including  that  remarkable  people,  the  Natchez,  who, 
judged  by  their  religious  and  political  institutions, 
seem  a  detached  offshoot  of  the  Toltec  family.  It  is 
no  less  conspicuous  among  the  roving  Algonquins  of 
the  extreme  North,  where  the  number  of  totems  is 
almost  countless.  Everywhere  it  formed  the  founda- 
tion of  the  polity  of  all  the  tribes,  where  a  polity 
could  be  said  to  exist. 

The  Franciscans  and  Jesuits,  close  students  of  the 
languages  and  superstitions  of  the  Indians,  were  by 
no  means  so  zealous  to  analyze  their  organization  and 
government.  In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  Hurons  as  a  nation  had  ceased  to  exist, 
and  their  political  portraiture,  as  handed  down  to  us, 
is  careless  and  unfinished.  Yet  some  decisive  features 
are  plainly  shown.  The  Huron  nation  was  a  confed- 
eracy of  four  distinct  contiguous  nations,  afterwards 
increased  to  five  by  the  addition  of  the  Tionnontates. 
It  was  divided  into  clans ;  it  was  governed  by  chiefs, 
whose  office  was  hereditary  through  the  female ;  the 
power  of  these  chiefs,  though  great,  was  wholly  of  a 
persuasive  or  advisory  character;  there  were  two 
principal  chiefs,  one  for  peace,  the  other  for  war; 
there  were  chiefs  assigned  to  special  national  func- 
tions, as  the  charge  of  the  great  Feast  of  the  Dead, 
the  direction  of  trading  voyages  to  other  nations, 
etc. ;  there  were  numerous  other  chiefs,  equal  in 
rank,  but  very  unequal  in  influence,  since  the  measure 


44  INTRODUCTION. 

of  their  influence  depended  on  the  measure  of  theii 
personal  ability ;  each  nation  of  the  confederacy  had 
a  separate  organization,  but  at  certain  periods  grand 
councils  of  the  united  nations  were  held,  at  which 
were  present,  not  chiefs  only,  but  also  a  great  con- 
course of  the  people ;  and  at  these  and  other  councils 
the  chiefs  and  principal  men  voted  on  proposed 
measures  by  means  of  small  sticks  or  reeds,  the 
opinion  of  the  plurality  ruling.1 

THE  IEOQUOIS. 

The  Iroquois  were  a  people  far  more  conspicuous 
in  history,  and  their  institutions  are  not  yet  extinct. 
In  early  and  recent  times,  they  have  been  closely 
studied,  and  no  little  light  has  been  cast  upon  a  sub- 
ject as  difficult  and  obscure  as  it  is  curious.  By 
comparing  the  statements  of  observers,  old  and  new, 
the  character  of  their  singular  organization  becomes 
sufficiently  clear.2 

1  These  facts  are  gathered  here  and  there  from  Ohamplain, 
Sagard,  Bressani,  and  the  Jesuit  Relations  prior  to  1650.     Of  the 
Jesuits,  Brebeuf  is   the  most  full  and   satisfactory.    Lafitau  and 
Charlevoix  knew  the  Huron  institutions  only  through  others. 

The  names  of  the  four  confederate  Huron  nations  were  the 
Ataronchronons,  Attignenonghac,  Attignaouentans,  and  Ahrendar- 
rhonons.  There  was  also  a  subordinate  "  nation  "  called  Tohotaen- 
rat,  which  had  but  one  town.  (See  the  map  of  the  Huron  Country.) 
They  all  bore  the  name  of  some  animal  or  other  object :  thus  the 
Attignaouentans  were  the  "  Nation  of  the  Bear."  As  the  clans  are 
usually  named  after  animals,  this  makes  confusion,  and  may  easily 
lead  to  error.  The  Bear  Nation  was  the  principal  member  of  the 
league. 

2  Among  modern  students  of  Iroquois  institutions,  a  place  far  in 
advance  of  all  others  is  due  to  Lewis  H.  Morgan,  himself  an  Iro- 


THE  IROQUOIS.  —  THEIR  ORIGIN.  45 

Both  reason  and  tradition  point  to  the  conclusion, 
that  the  Iroquois  formed  originally  one  undivided 
people.  Sundered,  like  countless  other  tribes,  by 
dissension,  caprice,  or  the  necessities  of  the  hunter 
life,  they  separated  into  five  distinct  nations,  cantoned 
from  east  to  west  along  the  centre  of  New  York,  in 
the  following  order:  Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas, 
Cayugas,  Senecas.  There  was  discord  among  them; 
wars  followed,  and  they  lived  in  mutual  fear,  each 
ensconced  in  its  palisaded  villages.  At  length,  says 
tradition,  a  celestial  being,  incarnate  on  earth,  coun- 
selled them  to  compose  their  strife  and  unite  in  a 
league  of  defence  and  aggression.  Another  person- 
age, wholly  mortal,  yet  wonderfully  endowed,  a 
renowned  warrior  and  a  mighty  magician,  stands, 
with  his  hair  of  writhing  snakes,  grotesquely  con- 
spicuous through  the  dim  light  of  tradition  at  this 
birth  of  Iroquois  nationality.  This  was  Atotarho,  a 

quois  by  adoption,  and  intimate  with  the  race  from  boyhood.  His 
work,  The  League  of  the  Iroquois,  is  a  production  of  most  thorough 
and  able  research,  conducted  under  peculiar  advantages,  and  with 
the  aid  of  an  efficient  co-laborer,  Hasanoanda  (Ely  S.  Parker),  an 
educated  and  highly  intelligent  Iroquois  of  the  Seneca  nation. 
Though  often  differing  widely  from  Mr.  Morgan's  conclusions,  I 
cannot  bear  a  too  emphatic  testimony  to  the  value  of  his  researches. 
The  Notes  on  the  Iroquois  of  Mr.  H.  R.  Schoolcraft  also  contain 
some  interesting  facts ;  but  here,  as  in  all  Mr.  Schoolcraft's  produc- 
tions, the  reader  must  scrupulously  reserve  his  right  of  private 
judgment.  None  of  the  old  writers  are  so  satisfactory  as  Lafitau. 
His  work,  Mceurs  des  Sauvages  Ameriquains  comparees  aux  Mceurs  des 
Premiers  Temps,  relates  chiefly  to  the  Iroquois  and  Hurons :  the 
basis  for  his  account  of  the  former  being  his  own  observations  and 
those  of  Father  Julien  Garnier,  who  was  a  missionary  among  them 
more  than  sixty  years,  from  his  novitiate  to  his  death. 


46  INTRODUCTION. 

chief  of  the  Onondagas ;  and  from  this  honored  source 
has  sprung  a  long  line  of  chieftains,  heirs  not  to  the 
blood  alone,  but  to  the  name  of  their  great  predeces- 
sor. A  few  years  since,  there  lived  in  Onondaga 
Hollow  a  handsome  Indian  boy  on  whom  the  dwindled 
remnant  of  the  nation  looked  with  pride  as  their 
destined  Atotarho.  With  earthly  and  celestial  aid 
the  league  was  consummated,  and  through  all  the  land 
the  forests  trembled  at  the  name  of  the  Iroquois. 

The  Iroquois  people  was  divided  into  eight  clans. 
When  the  original  stock  was  sundered  into  five  parts, 
each  of  these  clans  was  also  sundered  into  five  parts ; 
and  as,  by  the  principle  already  indicated,  the  clans 
were  intimately  mingled  in  every  village,  hamlet,  and 
cabin,  each  one  of  the  five  nations  had  its  portion  of 
each  of  the  eight  clans.1  When  the  league  was 

1  With  a  view  to  clearness,  the  above  statement  is  made  cate- 
gorical. It  requires,  however,  to  be  qualified.  It  is  not  quite 
certain,  that,  at  the  formation  of  the  confederacy,  there  were  eight 
clans,  though  there  is  positive  proof  of  the  existence  of  seven. 
Neither  is  it  certain,  that,  at  the  separation,  every  clan  was  repre- 
sented in  every  nation.  Among  the  Mohawks  and  Oneidas  there 
is  no  positive  proof  of  the  existence  of  more  than  three  clans, — 
the  Wolf,  Bear,  and  Tortoise;  though  there  is  presumptive 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  several  others.  See  Morgan,  81, 
note. 

The  eight  clans  of  the  Iroquois  were  as  follows :  Wolf,  Bear, 
Beaver,  Tortoise,  Deer,  Snipe,  Heron,  Hawk.  (Morgan,  79.)  The 
clans  of  the  Snipe  and  the  Heron  are  the  same  designated  in  an 
early  French  document  as  Lafamille  du  Petit  Pluvier  and  La  famille 
du  Grand  Pluvier.  (New  York  Colonial  Documents,  ix.  47.)  The 
anonymous  author  of  this  document  adds  a  ninth  clan,  that  of  the 
Potato,  meaning  the  wild  Indian  potato,  Glycine  apios.  This  clan, 
if  it  existed,  was  very  inconspicuous,  and  of  little  importance. 

Bemarkable  analogies  exist  between  Iroquoia  clanship  and  that 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  IROQUOIS.  47 

formed,  these  separate  portions  readily  resumed  their 
ancient  tie  of  fraternity.  Thus,  of  the  Turtle  clan, 
all  the  members  became  brothers  again,  —  nominal 
members  of  one  family,  whether  Mohawks,  Oneidas, 
Onondagas,  Cayugas,  or  Senecas ;  and  so,  too,  of  the 
remaining  clans.  All  the  Iroquois,  irrespective  of 
nationality,  were  therefore  divided  into  eight  families, 
each  tracing  its  descent  to  a  common  mother,  and 
each  designated  by  its  distinctive  emblem  or  totem. 
This  connection  of  clan  or  family  was  exceedingly 
strong,  and  by  it  the  five  nations  of  the  league  were 
linked  together  as  by  an  eightfold  chain. 

The  clans  were  by  no  means  equal  in  numbers, 
influence,  or  honor.  So  marked  were  the  distinctions 
among  them,  that  some  of  the  early  writers  recognize 
only  the  three  most  conspicuous,  —  those  of  the 
Tortoise,  the  Bear,  and  the  Wolf.  To  some  of  the 
clans,  in  each  nation,  belonged  the  right  of  giving  a 
chief  to  the  nation  and  to  the  league.  Others  had 
the  right  of  giving  three,  or,  in  one  case,  four  chiefs ; 
while  others  could  give  none.  As  Indian  clanship 
was  but  an  extension  of  the  family  relation,  these 

of  other  tribes.  The  eight  clans  of  the  Iroquois  were  separated 
into  two  divisions,  four  in  each.  Originally,  marriage  was  inter- 
dicted between  all  the  members  of  the  same  division,  but  in  time 
the  interdict  was  limited  to  the  members  of  the  individual  clans. 
Another  tribe,  the  Choctaws,  remote  from  the  Iroquois,  and  radi- 
cally different  in  language,  had  also  eight  clans,  similarly  divided, 
with  a  similar  interdict  of  marriage.  Gallatin,  Synopsis,  109. 

The  Creeks,  according  to  the  account  given  by  their  old  chief, 
Sekopechi,  to  Mr.  D.  W.  Eakins,  were  divided  into  nine  clans, 
named  in  most  cases  from  animals :  clanship  being  transmitted, 
as  usual,  through  the  female. 


48  INTRODUCTION. 

chiefs  were,  in  a  certain  sense,  hereditary;  but  the 
law  of  inheritance,  though  binding,  was  extremely 
elastic,  and  capable  of  stretching  to  the  farthest  limits 
of  the  clan.  The  chief  was  almost  invariably  suc- 
ceeded by  a  near  relative,  always  through  the  female, 
—  as  a  brother  by  the  same  mother,  or  a  nephew  by 
the  sister's  side.  But  if  these  were  manifestly  unfit, 
they  were  passed  over,  and  a  chief  was  chosen  at  a 
council  of  the  clan  from  among  remoter  kindred.  In 
these  cases,  the  successor  is  said  to  have  been  nomi- 
nated by  the  matron  of  the  late  chief's  household.1 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  choice  was  never  adverse  to 
the  popular  inclination.  The  new  chief  was  "  raised 
up,"  or  installed,  by  a  formal  council  of  the  sachems 
of  the  league;  and  on  entering  upon  his  office,  he 
dropped  his  own  name,  and  assumed  that  which, 
since  the  formation  of  the  league,  had  belonged  to 
this  especial  chieftainship. 

The  number  of  these  principal  chiefs,  or,  as  they 
have  been  called  by  way  of  distinction,  sachems, 
varied  in  the  several  nations  from  eight  to  fourteen. 
The  sachems  of  the  five  nations,  fifty  in  all,  assembled 
in  council,  formed  the  government  of  the  confederacy. 
All  met  as  equals,  but  a  peculiar  dignity  was  ever 
attached  to  the  Atotarho  of  the  Onondagas. 

There  was  a  class  of  subordinate  chiefs,  in  no  sense/- 
hereditary, but  rising  to  office  by  address,  ability,  or 
valor.  Yet  the  rank  was  clearly  defined,  and  the 
new  chief  installed  at  a  formal  council.  This  class 

1  Lafitau,  i.  471. 


COUNCILS.  —  SACHEMS.  49 

embodied,  as  might  be  supposed,  the  best  talent  of 
the  nation,  and  the  most  prominent  warriors  and 
orators  of  the  Iroquois  have  belonged  to  it.  In  its 
character  and  functions,  however,  it  was  purely  civil. 
Like  the  sachems,  these  chiefs  held  their  councils, 
and  exercised  an  influence  proportionate  to  their 
number  and  abilities. 

There  was  another  council,  between  which  and 
that  of  the  subordinate  chiefs  the  line  of  demarcation 
seems  not  to  have  been  very  definite.  The  Jesuit 
Lafitau  calls  it  "the  senate."  Familiar  with  the 
Iroquois  at  the  height  of  their  prosperity,  he  describes 
it  as  the  central  and  controlling  power,  so  far,  at 
least,  as  the  separate  nations  were  concerned.  In  its 
character  it  was  essentially  popular,  but  popular  in 
the  best  sense,  and  one  which  can  find  its  application 
only  in  a  small  community.  Any  man  took  part  in 
it  whose  age  and  experience  qualified  him  to  do  so. 
It  was  merely  the  gathered  wisdom  of  the  nation. 
Lafitau  compares  it  to  the  Roman  Senate,  in  the  early 
and  rude  age  of  the  Republic,  and  affirms  that  it  loses 
nothing  by  the  comparison.  He  thus  describes  it: 
"  It  is  a  greasy  assemblage,  sitting  sur  leur  derri&re, 
crouched  like  apes,  their  knees  as  high  as  their  ears, 
or  lying,  some  on  their  bellies,  some  on  their  backs, 
each  with  a  pipe  in  his  mouth,  discussing  affairs  of 
state  with  as  much  coolness  and  gravity  as  the 
Spanish  Junta  or  the  Grand  Council  of  Venice."1 

The  young  warriors  had   also  their   councils;  so, 

1  Lafitau,  i.  478. 
VOL.  I.  —  4 


50  INTRODUCTION. 

too,  had  the  women;  and  the  opinions  and  wishes 
of  each  were  represented  by  means  of  deputies 
before  the  "senate,"  or  council  of  the  old  men,  as 
well  as  before  the  grand  confederate  council  of  the 
sachems. 

The  government  of  this  unique  republic  resided 
wholly  in  councils.  By  councils  all  questions  were 
settled,  all  regulations  established,  —  social,  political, 
military,  and  religious.  The  war-path,  the  chase, 
the  council-fire,  —  in  these  was  the  life  of  the 
Iroquois ;  and  it  is  hard  to  say  to  which  of  the  three 
he  was  most  devoted. 

The  great  council  of  the  fifty  sachems  formed,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  government  of  the  league.  When- 
ever a  subject  arose  before  any  of  the  nations,  of 
importance  enough  to  demand  its  assembling,  the 
sachems  of  that  nation  might  summon  their  col- 
leagues by  means  of  runners,  bearing  messages  and 
belts  of  wampum.  The  usual  place  of  meeting  was 
the  valley  of  Onondaga,  the  political  as  well  as 
geographical  centre  of  the  confederacy.  Thither,  if 
the  matter  were  one  of  deep  and  general  interest,  not 
the  sachems  alone,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  popu- 
lation, gathered  from  east  and  west,  swarming  in  the 
hospitable  lodges  of  the  town,  or  bivouacked  by 
thousands  in  the  surrounding  fields  and  forests. 
While  the  sachems  deliberated  in  the  council-house, 
the  chiefs  and  old  men,  the  warriors,  and  often  the 
women,  were  holding  their  respective  councils  apart; 
and  their  opinions,  laid  by  their  deputies  before  the 


THE  GREAT  COUNCIL.  51 

council  of  sachems,  were  never  without  influence  on 
its  decisions. 

The  utmost  order  and  deliberation  reigned  in  the 
council,  with  rigorous  adherence  to  the  Indian  notions 
of  parliamentary  propriety.  The  conference  opened 
with  an  address  to  the  spirits,  or  the  chief  of  all  the 
spirits.  There  was  no  heat  in  debate.  No  speaker 
interrupted  another.  Each  gave  his  opinion  in  turn, 
supporting  it  with  what  reason  or  rhetoric  he  could 
command,  —  but  not  until  he  had  stated  the  subject 
of  discussion  in  full,  to  prove  that  he  understood  it, 
repeating  also  the  arguments,  pro  and  con,  of  previous 
speakers.  Thus  their  debates  were  excessively  prolix ; 
and  the  consumption  of  tobacco  was  immoderate. 
The  result,  however,  was  a  thorough  sifting  of  the 
matter  in  hand;  while  the  practised  astuteness  of 
these  savage  politicians  was  a  marvel  to  their  civilized 
contemporaries.  "It  is  by  a  most  subtle  policy," 
says  Lafitau,  "that  they  have  taken  the  ascendant 
over  the  other  nations,  divided  and  overcome  the 
most  warlike,  made  themselves  a  terror  to  the  most 
remote,  and  now  hold  a  peaceful  neutrality  between 
the  French  and  English,  courted  and  feared  by 
both."1 

1  Lafitau,  i.  480.  Many  other  French  writers  speak  to  the  same 
effect.  The  following  are  the  words  of  the  soldier  historian,  La 
Potherie,  after  describing  the  organization  of  the  league :  "  C'est 
done  111  cette  politique  qui  les  unit  si  bien,  k  peu  pres  comme  tous 
lea  ressorts  d'une  horloge,  qui  par  une  liaison  admirable  de  toutes 
les  parties  qui  les  composent,  contribuent  toutes  unanimement  au 
merveilleu-X  effet  qui  en  resulte."  —  Hist,  de  I'Amerique  Septentrionale, 
iii.  32.  He  adds :  "  Les  Francois  ont  avoiie'  eux-memes  qu'ils  e'toient 


52  INTRODUCTION. 

Unlike  the  Hurons,  -they  required  an  entire  una- 
nimity in  their  decisions.  The  ease  and  frequency 
with  which  a  requisition  seemingly  so  difficult  was 
fulfilled  afford  a  striking  illustration  of  Indian  nature, 
—  on  one  side,  so  stubborn,  tenacious,  and  impracti- 
cable ;  on  the  other,  so  pliant  and  acquiescent.  An 
explanation  of  this  harmony  is  to  be  found  also  in  an 
intense  spirit  of  nationality ;  for  never  since  the  days 
of  Sparta  were  individual  life  and  national  life  more 
completely  fused  into  one. 

The  sachems  of  the  league  were  likewise,  as  we 
have  seen,  sachems  of  their  respective  nations;  yet 
they  rarely  spoke  in  the  councils  of  the  subordinate 
chiefs  and  old  men,  except  to  present  subjects  of 
discussion.1  Their  influence  in  these  councils  was, 
however,  great,  and  even  paramount;  for  they  com- 
monly succeeded  in  securing  to  their  interest  some  of 
the  most  dexterous  and  influential  of  ftie  conclave, 
through  whom,  while  they  themselves  remained  in 
the  background,  they  managed  the  debates.2 

nez  pour  la  guerre,  &  quelques  maux  qu'ils  nous  ayent  faits  nous 
les  avons  toujours  estimez."  —  Ibid.,  2.  La  Potherie's  book  was 
published  in  1722. 

1  Lafitau,  i.  479. 

2  The  following  from  Lafitau  is  very  characteristic :  "  Ce  que  je 
dis  de  leur  zcle  pour  le  bien  public  n'est  cependant  pas  si  universe!, 
que  plusieurs   ne  pensent  a  leurs  interets  particuliers,  &  que  les 
Chefs  (sachems)  principalement  ne  fassent  joiier  plusieurs  ressorts 
secrets  pour  venir  a  bout  de  leurs  intrigues.    II  y  en  a  tel,  dont 
1'adresse  joue  si  bien   a  coup   sur,  qu'il  fait  deliberer  le  Conseil 
plusieurs  jours  de  suite,  sur  une  matiere  dont  la  determination  eat 
arrete'e  entre  lui  &  les  principals  tetes  avant  d'avoir  e"te"  mise  sur 
le  tapis.    Cependant  comme  les  Chefs  s'entre-regardent,  &  qu'aucun 


INDIAN  POLITICIANS.  53 

There  was  a  class  of  men  among  the  Iroquois 
always  put  forward  on  public  occasions  to  speak  the 
mind  of  the  nation  or  defend  its  interests.  Nearly 
all  of  them  were  of  the  number  of  the  subordinate 
chiefs.  Nature  and  training  had  fitted  them  for 
public  speaking,  and  they  were  deeply  versed  in  the 
history  and  traditions  of  the  league.  They  were  in 
fact  professed  orators,  high  in  honor  and  influence 
among  tjie  people.  To  a  huge  stock  of  conventional 
metaphors,  the  use  of  which  required  nothing  but 
practice,  they  often  added  an  astute  intellect,  an 
astonishing  memory,  and  an  eloquence  which  deserved 
the  name. 

In  one  particular,  the  training  of  these  savage 
politicians  was  never  surpassed.  They  had  no  art 
of  writing  to  record  events,  or  preserve  the  stipula- 
tions of  treaties.  Memory,  therefore,  was  tasked  to 
the  utmost,  and  developed  to  an  extraordinary  degree. 
They  had  various  devices  for  aiding  it,  such  as 
bundles  of  sticks,  and  that  system  of  signs,  emblems, 
and  rude  pictures  which  they  shared  with  other 
tribes.  Their  famous  wampum-belts  were  so  many 
mnemonic  signs,  each  standing  for  some  act,  speech, 
treaty,  or  clause  of  a  treaty.  These  represented  the 

ne  veut  paroitre  se  dormer  une  superiorite  qui  puisse  piquer  la  ja- 
lousie, ils  se  me'nagent  dans  les  Conseils  plus  que  les  autres ;  & 
quoiqu'ils  en  soient  1'arae,  leur  politique  les  oblige  a  y  parier  peu, 
&  a  ecouter  plutot  le  sentiment  d'autrui,  qu'a  y  dire  le  leur ;  mais 
chacun  a  un  homme  a  sa  main,  qui  est  comme  une  espece  de 
Brulot,  &  qui  etant  sans  consequence  pour  sa  personne  hazarde  en 
pleine  liberte  tout  ce  qu'il  juge  a  propos,  selon  qu'il  1'a  concert^ 
avec  le  Chef  meme  pour  qui  il  agit."  —  Moeurs  des  Sauvages,  i.  481. 


54  INTRODUCTION. 

public  archives,  and  were  divided  among  various 
custodians,  each  charged  with  the  memory  and  inter- 
pretation of  those  assigned  to  him.  The  meaning  of 
the  belts'  was  from  time  to  time  expounded  in  their 
councils.  In  conferences  with  them,  nothing  more 
astonished  the  French,  Dutch,  and  English  officials 
than  the  precision  with  which,  before  replying  to 
their  addresses,  the  Indian  orators  repeated  them 
point  by  point. 

It  was  only  in  rare  cases  that  crime  among  the 
Iroquois  or  Hurons  was  punished  by  public  authority. 
Murder,  the  most  heinous  offence,  except  witchcraft, 
recognized  among  them,  was  rare.  If  the  slayer  and 
the  slain  were  of  the  same  household  or  clan,  the 
affair  was  regarded  as  a  family  quarrel,  to  be  settled 
by  the  immediate  kin  on  both  sides.  This,  under 
the  pressure  of  public  opinion,  was  commonly  effected 
without  bloodshed,  by  presents  given  in  atonement. 
But  if  the  murderer  and  his  victim  were  of  different 
clans  or  different  nations,  still  more,  if  the  slain  was 
a  foreigner,  the  whole  community  became  interested 
to  prevent  the  discord  or  the  war  which  might  arise. 
All  directed  their  efforts,  not  to  bring  the  murderer 
to  punishment,  but  to  satisfy  the  injured  parties  by 
a  vicarious  atonement.1  To  this  end,  contributions 
were  made  and  presents  collected.  Their  number 

1  Lalemant,  while  inveighing  against  a  practice  which  made  the 
public,  and  not  the  criminal,  answerable  for  an  offence,  admits  that 
heinous  crimes  were  more  rare  than  in  France,  where  the  guilty 
party  himself  was  punished.  —  Lettre  au  P.  Provincial,  15 
May,  1645. 


PUNISHMENT  OF  CRIME.  55 

and  value  were  determined  by  established  usage. 
Among  the  Hurons,  thirty  presents  of  very  consid- 
erable value  were  the  price  of  a  man's  life.  That  of 
a  woman's  was  fixed  at  forty,  by  reason  of  her  weak- 
ness, and  because  on  her  depended  the  continuance 
and  increase  of  the  population.  This  was  when  the 
slain  belonged  to  the  nation.  If  of  a  foreign  tribe, 
his  death  demanded  a  higher  compensation,  since  it 
involved  the  danger  of  war.1  These  presents  were 
offered  in  solemn  council,  with  prescribed  formalities. 
The  relatives  of  the  slain  might  refuse  them,  if  they 
chose,  and  in  this  case  the  murderer  was  given  them 
as  a  slave;  but  they  might  by  no  means  kill  him, 
since  in  so  doing  they  would  incur  public  censure, 
and  be  compelled  in  their  turn  to  make  atonement. 
Besides  the  principal  gifts,  there  was  a  great  number 
of  less  value,  all  symbolical,  and  each  delivered  with 
a  set  form  of  words :  as,  "  By  this  we  wash  out  the 
blood  of  the  slain :  By  this  we  cleanse  his  wound : 
By  this  we  clothe  his  corpse  with  a  new  shirt:  By 
this  we  place  food  on  his  grave;"  and  so,  in  endless 
prolixity,  through  particulars  without  number.2 

The  Hurons  were  notorious  thieves;  and  perhaps 
the  Iroquois  were  not  much  better,  though  the  con- 
trary has  been  asserted.  Among  both,  the  robbed 

1  Ragueneau,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1648,  80. 

2  Ragueneau,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1648,  gives  a  description  of 
one  of  these  ceremonies  at  length.     Those  of  the  Iroquois  on  such 
occasions  were  similar.    Many  other  trihes  had  the  same  custom, 
but   attended  with    much    less    form    and    ceremony.      Compare 
Perrot,  13-16. 


56  INTRODUCTION. 

was  permitted  not  only  to  retake  his  property  by 
force,  if  he  could,  but  to  strip  the  robber  of  all  he 
had.  This  apparently  acted  as  a  restraint  in  favor 
only  of  the  strong,  leaving  the  weak  a  prey  to  the 
plunderer;  but  here  the  tie  of  family  and  clan  inter- 
vened to  aid  him.  Relatives  and  clansmen  espoused 
the  quarrel  of  him  who  could  not  right  himself.1 

Witches,  with  whom  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois 
were  grievously  infested,  were  objects  of  utter  abomi- 
nation to  both,  and  any  one  might  kill  them  at  any 
time.  If  any  person  was  guilty  of  treason,  or  by  his 
character  and  conduct  made  himself  dangerous  or 
obnoxious  to  the  public,  the  council  of  chiefs  and 
old  men  held  a  secret  session  on  his  case,  condemned 
him  to  death,  and  appointed  some  young  man  to  kill 
him.  The  executioner,  watching  his  opportunity, 
brained  or  stabbed  him  unawares,  usually  in  the  dark 
porch  of  one  of  the  houses.  Acting  by  authority,  he 
could  not  be  held  answerable;  and  the  relatives  of 
the  slain  had  no  redress,  even  if  they  desired  it. 
The  council,  however,  commonly  obviated  all  diffi- 
culty in  advance,  by  charging  the  culprit  with  witch- 
craft, thus  alienating  his  best  friends. 

The  military  organization  of  the  Iroquois  was 
exceedingly  imperfect  and  derived  all  its  efficiency 
from  their  civil  union  and  their  personal  prowess. 
There  were  two  hereditary  war-chiefs,  both  belonging 

1  The  proceedings  for  detecting  thieves  were  regular  and 
methodical,  after  established  customs.  According  to  Bressani,  no 
thief  ever  inculpated  the  innocent. 


MILITARY  ORGANIZATION.  57 

to  the  Senecas ;  but,  except  on  occasions  of  unusual 
importance,  it  does  not  appear  that  they  took  a  very 
active  part  in  the  conduct  of  wars.  The  Iroquois 
lived  in  a  state  of  chronic  warfare  with  nearly  all  the 
surrounding  tribes,  except  a  few  from  whom  they 
exacted  tribute.  Any  man  of  sufficient  personal 
credit  might  raise  a  war-party  when  he  chose.  He 
proclaimed  his  purpose  through  the  village,  sang  his 
war-songs,  struck  his  hatchet  into  the  war-post,  and 
danced  the  war-dance.  Any  who  chose  joined  him; 
and  the  party  usually  took  up  their  march  at  once, 
with  a  little  parched  corn-meal  and  maple-sugar  as 
their  sole  provision.  On  great  occasions,  there  was 
concert  of  action,  —  the  various  parties  meeting  at  a 
rendezvous,  and  pursuing  the  march  together.  The 
leaders  of  war-parties,  like  the  orators,  belonged,  in 
nearly  all  cases,  to  the  class  of  subordinate  chiefs. 
The  Iroquois  had  a  discipline  suited  to  the  dark  and 
tangled  forests  where  they  fought.  Here  they  were 
a  terrible  foe :  in  an  open  country,  against  a  trained 
European  force,  they  were,  despite  their  ferocious 
valor,  far  less  formidable. 

In  observing  this  singular  organization,  one  is 
struck  by  the  incongruity  of  its  spirit  and  its  form. 
A  body  of  hereditary  oligarchs  was  the  head  of  the 
nation,  yet  the  nation  was  essentially  democratic. 
Not  that  the  Iroquois  were  levellers.  None  were 
more  prompt  to  acknowledge  superiority  and  defer 
to  it,  whether  established  by  usage  and  prescription, 
or  the  result  of  personal  endowment.  Yet  each  man, 


58  INTRODUCTION. 

whether  of  high  or  low  degree,  had  a  voice  in  the 
conduct  of  affairs,  and  was  never  for  a  moment 
divorced  from  his  wild  spirit  of  independence. 
Where  there  was  no  property  worthy  the  name, 
authority  had  no  fulcrum  and  no  hold.  The  constant 
aim  of  sachems  and  chiefs  was  to  exercise  it  without 
seeming  to  do  so.  They  had  no  insignia  of  office. 
They  were  no  richer  than  others ;  indeed,  they  were 
often  poorer,  spending  their  substance  in  largesses 
and  bribes  to  strengthen  their  influence.  They 
hunted  and  fished  for  subsistence ;  they  were  as  foul, 
greasy,  and  unsavory  as  the  rest ;  yet  in  them,  withal, 
was  often  seen  a  native  dignity  of  bearing,  which 
ochre  and  bear's  grease  could  not  hide,  and  which 
comported  well  with  their  strong,  symmetrical,  and 
sometimes  majestic  proportions. 

To  the  institutions,  traditions,  rites,  usages,  and 
festivals  of  the  league  the  Iroquois  was  inseparably 
wedded.  He  clung  to  them  with  Indian  tenacity; 
and  he  clings  to  them  still.  His  political  fabric  was 
one  of  ancient  ideas  and  practices,  crystallized  into 
regular  and  enduring  forms.  In  its  component  parts 
it  has  nothing  peculiar  to  itself.  All  its  elements 
are  found  in  other  tribes;  most  of  them  belong  to 
the  whole  Indian  race.  Undoubtedly  there  was  a 
distinct  and  definite  effort  of  legislation ;  but  Iroquois 
legislation  invented  nothing.  Like  all  sound  legis- 
lation, it  built  of  materials  already  prepared.  It 
organized  the  chaotic  past,  and  gave  concrete  forms 
to  Indian  nature  itself.  The  people  have  dwindled 


SPIRIT   OF   THE   CONFEDERACY.  59 

and  decayed ;  but,  banded  by  its  ties  of  clan  and  kin, 
the  league,  in  feeble  miniature,  still  subsists,  and  the 
degenerate  Iroquois  looks  back  with  a  mournful  pride 
to  the  glory  of  the  past. 

Would  the  Iroquois,  left  undisturbed  to  work  out 
their  own  destiny,  ever  have  emerged  from  the  savage 
state?  Advanced  as  they  were  beyond  most  other 
American  tribes,  there  is  no  indication  whatever  of 
a  tendency  to  overpass  the  confines  of  a  wild  hunter 
and  warrior  life.  They  were  inveterately  attached 
to  it,  impracticable  conservatists  of  barbarism,  and  in 
ferocity  and  cruelty  they  matched  the  worst  of  their 
race.  Nor  did  the  power  of  expansion  apparently 
belonging  to  their  system  ever  produce  much  result. 
Between  the  years  1712  and  1715,  the  Tuscaroras,  a 
kindred  people,  were  admitted  into  the  league  as  a 
sixth  nation ;  but  they  were  never  admitted  on  equal 
terms.  Long  after,  in  the  period  of  their  decline, 
several  other  tribes  were  announced  as  new  members 
of  the  league ;  but  these  admissions  never  took  effect. 
The  Iroquois  were  always  reluctant  to  receive  other 
tribes,  or  parts  of  tribes,  collectively,  into  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  "Long  House."  Yet  they  constantly 
practised  a  system  of  adoptions,  from  which,  though 
cruel  and  savage,  they  drew  great  advantages.  Their 
prisoners  of  war,  when  they  had  burned  and  butchered 
as  many  of  them  as  would  serve  to  sate  their  own  ire 
and  that  of  their  women,  were  divided,  —  man  by 
man,  woman  by  woman,  and  child  by  child,  —  adopted 
into  different  families  and  clans,  and  thus  incorpo- 


60  INTRODUCTION. 

rated  into  the  nation.  It  was  by  this  means,  and 
this  alone,  that  they  could  offset  the  losses  of  their 
incessant  wars.  Early  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  even  long  before,  a  vast  proportion  of  their 
population  consisted  of  adopted  prisoners.1 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  religious  and  supersti- 
tious ideas  which  so  deeply  influenced  Indian  life. 


KELIGION  AND  SUPERSTITIONS. 

The  religious  belief  of  the  North-American  Indians 
seems,  on  a  first  view,  anomalous  and  contradictory. 
It  certainly  is  so,  if  we  adopt  the  popular  impression. 
Romance,  Poetry,  and  Rhetoric  point,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  the  august  conception  of  a  one  all-ruling 
Deity,  a  Great  Spirit,  omniscient  and  omnipresent; 
and  we  are  called  to  admire  the  untutored  intellect 
which  could  conceive  a  thought  too  vast  for  Socrates 
and  Plato.  On  the  other  hand,  we  find  a  chaos  of 

1  Relation,  1660,  7  (anonymous).  The  Iroquois  were  at  the 
height  of  their  prosperity  about  the  year  1650.  Morgan  reckons 
their  number  at  this  time  at  25,000  souls ;  but  this  is  far  too  high 
an  estimate.  The  author  of  the  Relation  of  1660  makes  their  whole 
number  of  warriors  2,200.  Le  Mercier,  in  the  Relation  of  1665,  says, 
2,350.  In  the  Journal  of  Greenhalgh,  an  Englishman  who  visited 
them  in  1677,  their  warriors  are  set  down  at  2,150.  Du  Chesneau, 
in  1681,  estimates  them  at  2,000 ;  De  la  Barre,  in  1684,  at  2,600,  they 
having  been  strengthened  by  adoptions.  A  memoir  addressed  to 
the  Marquis  de  Seignelay,  in  1687,  again  makes  them  2,000.  (See 
N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  ix.  162,  106,  321.)  These  estimates  imply  a  total 
population  of  ten  or  twelve  thousand. 

The  anonymous  writer  of  the  Relation  of  1660  may  well  remark  : 
"  It  is  marvellous  that  so  few  should  make  so  great  a  havoc,  and 
strike  such  terror  into  so  many  tribes." 


INDIAN  PANTHEISM.  61 

degrading,  ridiculous,  and  incoherent  superstitions. 
A  closer  examination  will  show  that  the  contradic- 
tion is  more  apparent  than  real.  We  will  begin  with 
the  lowest  forms  of  Indian  belief,  and  thence  trace  it 
upward  to  the  highest  conceptions  to  which  the 
unassisted  mind  of  the  savage  attained. 

To  the  Indian,  the  material  world  is  sentient  and 
intelligent.  Birds,  beasts,  and  reptiles  have  ears  for 
human  prayers,  and  are  endowed  with  an  influence 
on  human  destiny.  A  mysterious  and  inexplicable 
power  resides  in  inanimate  things.  They,  too,  can 
listen  to  the  voice  of  man,  and  influence  his  life  for 
evil  or  for  good.  Lakes,  rivers,  and  waterfalls  are 
sometimes  the  dwelling-place  of  spirits;  but  more 
frequently  they  are  themselves  living  beings,  to  be 
propitiated  by  prayers  and  offerings.  The  lake  has  a 
soul;  and  so  has  the  river,  and  the  cataract.  Each 
can  hear  the  words  of  men,  and  each  can  be  pleased 
or  offended.  In  the  silence  of  a  forest,  the  gloom  of 
a  deep  ravine,  resides  a  living  mystery,  indefinite, 
but  redoubtable.  Through  all  the  works  of  Nature 
or  of  man,  nothing  exists,  however  seemingly  trivial, 
that  may  not  be  endowed  with  a  secret  power  for 
blessing  or  for  bane. 

Men  and  animals  are  closely  akin.  Each  species 
of  animal  has  its  great  archetype,  its  progenitor  or 
king,  who  is  supposed  to  exist  somewhere,  prodigious 
in  size,  though  in  shape  and  nature  like  his  subjects. 
A  belief  prevails,  vague,  but  perfectly  apparent,  that 
men  themselves  owe  their  first  parentage  to  beasts, 


62  INTRODUCTION. 

birds,  or  reptiles,  —  as  bears,  wolves,  tortoises,  or 
cranes ;  and  the  names  of  the  totemic  clans,  borrowed 
in  nearly  every  case  from  animals,  are  the  reflection 
of  this  idea.1 

An  Indian  hunter  was  always  anxious  to  propitiate 
the  animals  he  sought  to  kill.  He  has  often  been 
known  to  address  a  wounded  bear  in  a  long  harangue 
of  apology.2  The  bones  of  the  beaver  were  treated 
with  especial  tenderness,  and  carefully  kept  from  the 
dogs,  lest  the  spirit  of  the  dead  beaver,  or  his  surviving 
brethren,  should  take  offence.3  This  solicitude  was 
not  confined  to  animals,  but  extended  to  inanimate 
things.  A  remarkable  example  occurred  among  the 
Hurons,  a  people  comparatively  advanced,  who,  to 
propitiate  their  fishing-nets  and  persuade  them  to  do 

1  This   belief  occasionally  takes    a    perfectly    definite    shape. 
There  was  a  tradition  among  Northern  and  Western  tribes  that 
men  were  created  from  the  carcasses  of  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes,  by 
Manabozho,  a  mythical  personage,  to  be  described  hereafter.    The 
Amikouas,  or  People  of  the  Beaver,  an  Algonquin  tribe  of  Lake 
Huron,   claimed   descent  from   the  carcass  of  the   great  original 
beaver,   or  father  of  the  beavers.    They  believed  that  the  rapids 
and  cataracts  on  the  French  River  and  the  Upper  Ottawa  were 
caused  by  dams   made   by   their  amphibious  ancestor.     (See  the 
tradition  in  Perrot,  Memoire  sur  les  Mceurs,  Coustumes  et  Relligion  des 
Sauvages  de  I'Amerique    Septentrionale,  20.)      Charlevoix   tells   the 
same  story.    Each  Indian  was  supposed  to  inherit  something   of 
the  nature  of  the  animal  whence  he  sprung. 

2  McKinney,  Tour  to  the  Lakes,  284,  mentions  the  discomposure 
of  a  party  of  Indians  when  shown  a  stuffed  moose.    Thinking  that 
its  spirit  would  be  offended  at  the  indignity  shown  to  its  remains, 
they   surrounded  it,  making    apologetic    speeches,    and    blowing 
tobacco-smoke  at  it  as  a  propitiatory  offering. 

8  This  superstition  was  very  prevalent,  and  numerous  exam- 
ples of  it  occur  in  old  and  recent  writers,  from  Father  Le  Jeune  to 
Captain  Carver. 


MANITOTJS  AND  OKIES.  63 

their  office  with  effect,  married  them  every  year  to 
two  young  girls  of  the  tribe,  with  a  ceremony  far 
more  formal  than  that  observed  in  the  case  of  mere 
human  wedlock.1  The  fish,  too,  no  less  than  the 
nets,  must  be  propitiated ;  and  to  this  end  they  were 
addressed  every  evening  from  the  fishing-camp  by 
one  of  the  party  chosen  for  that  function,  who 
exhorted  them  to  take  courage  and  be  caught,  assur- 
ing them  that  the  utmost  respect  should  be  shown  to 
their  bones.  The  harangue,  which  took  place  after 
the  evening  meal,  was  made  in  solemn  form;  and 
while  it  lasted,  the  whole  party,  except  the  speaker, 
were  required  to  lie  on  their  backs,  silent  and 
motionless,  around  the  fire.2 

Besides  ascribing  life  and  intelligence  to  the 
material  world,  animate  and  inanimate,  the  Indian 
believes  in  supernatural  existences,  known  among  the 
Algonquins  as  Manitous,  and  among  the  Iroquois 
and  Hurons  as  Okies  or  Otkons.  These  words  com- 


1  There   are   frequent  allusions  to  this  ceremony  in  the  early 
writers.     The  Algonquins  of  the  Ottawa  practised  it,  as  well  as  the 
Hurons.    Lalemant,  in  his  chapter  "  Du  Regne  de  Satan  en  ces 
Contrees  "  (Relation  des  Hurons,  1639),  says  that  it  took  place  yearly, 
in  the  middle  of  March.    As  it  was  indispensable  that  the  brides 
should  be  virgins,  mere  children  were  chosen.    The  net  was  held 
between  them ;  and  its  spirit,  or  oki,  was  harangued  by  one  of  the 
chiefs,  who  exhorted  him  to  do  his  part  in  furnishing  the  tribe 
with  food.    Lalemant  was  told  that  the  spirit  of  the  net  had  once 
appeared  in  human  form  to  the  Algonquins,  complaining  that  he 
had  lost  his  wife,  and  warning  them,  that,  unless  they  could  find 
him  another  equally  immaculate,  they  would  catch  no  more  fish. 

2  Sagard,   Le   Grand    Voyage  du  Pays  des  Hurons,  257.     Other 
old  writers  make  a  similar  statement. 


64  INTRODUCTION. 

prehend  all  forms  of  supernatural  being,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  with  the  exception,  possibly, 
of  certain  diminutive  fairies  or  hobgoblins,  and  cer- 
tain giants  and  anomalous  monsters,  which  appear 
under  various  forms,  grotesque  and  horrible,  in  the 
Indian  fireside  legends.1  There  are  local  manitous 
of  streams,  rocks,  mountains,  cataracts,  and  forests. 
The  conception  of  these  beings  betrays,  for  the  most 
part,  a  striking  poverty  of  imagination.  In  nearly 
every  case,  when  they  reveal  themselves  to  mortal 
sight,  they  bear  the  semblance  of  beasts,  reptiles,  or 
birds,  in  shapes  unusual  or  distorted.2  There  are 
other  manitous  without  local  habitation,  some  good, 
some  evil,  countless  in  number  and  indefinite  in 
attributes.  They  fill  the  world,  and  control  the 
destinies  of  men,  —  that  is  to  say,  of  Indians ;  for 
the  primitive  Indian  holds  that  the  white  man  lives 
under  a  spiritual  rule  distinct  from  that  which 
governs  his  own  fate.  These  beings,  also,  appear 
for  the  most  part  in  the  shape  of  animals.  Some- 
times, however,  they  assume  human  proportions ;  but 
more  frequently  they  take  the  form  of  stones,  which, 

1  Many  tribes  have  tales  of  diminutive  beings,  which,  in  the 
absence  of  a  better  word,  may  be  called  "  fairies."    In  the  Travels 
of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  there   is  mention   of  a  hill  on  the  Missouri, 
supposed  to  be  haunted  by  them.    These  Western   fairies   corre- 
spond to  the  Puck  Wudj  Ininee  of  Ojibwa  tradition.    As  an  example 
of  the  monsters  alluded  to,  see  the  Saginaw  story  of  the   Weendi- 
goes,  in  Schoolcraft,   Algic  Researches,  ii.  105. 

2  The  figure  of  a  large  bird  is  perhaps  the  most  common,  —  as, 
for  example,  the  good  spirit  of  Rock  Island :  "  He  was  white,  with 
wings   like   a    swan,    but    ten    times   larger."  —  Autobiography    of 
Blackhawk,  70. 


THE  GUARDIAN  MANITOU.  65 

being  broken,   are   found  full  of  living  blood  and 
flesh. 

Each  primitive  Indian  has  his  guardian  manitou, 
to  whom  he  looks  for  counsel,  guidance,  and  protec- 
tion. These  spiritual  allies  are  gained  by  the  follow- 
ing process.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  the 
Indian  boy  blackens  his  face,  retires  to  some  solitary 
place,  and  remains  for  days  without  food.  Supersti- 
tious expectancy  and  the  exhaustion  of  abstinence 
rarely  fail  of  their  results.  His  sleep  is  haunted  by 
visions,  and  the  form  which  first  or  most  often  appears 
is  that  of  his  guardian  manitou,  —  a  beast,  a  bird, 
a  fish,  a  serpent,  or  some  other  object,  animate  or 
inanimate.  An  eagle  or  a  bear  is  the  vision  of  a 
destined  warrior;  a  wolf,  of  a  successful  hunter; 
while  a  serpent  foreshadows  the  future  medicine- 
man, or,  according  to  others,  portends  disaster.1 
The  young  Indian  thenceforth  wears  about  his  person 
the  object  revealed  in  his  dream,  or  some  portion  of 

1  Compare  Cass,  in  North  American  Review,  Second  Series,  xiii. 
100.  A  turkey-buzzard,  according  to  him,  is  the  vision  of  a  medi- 
cine-man. I  once  knew  an  old  Dahcotah  chief,  who  was  greatly 
respected,  but  had  never  been  to  war,  though  belonging  to  a  family 
of  peculiarly  warlike  propensities.  The  reason  was,  that,  in  his 
initiatory  fast,  he  had  dreamed  of  an  antelope,  —  the  peace-spirit 
of  his  people. 

Women  fast,  as  well  as  men,  —  always  at  the  time  of  transition 
from  childhood  to  maturity.  In  the  Narrative  of  John  Tanner, 
there  is  an  account  of  an  old  woman  who  had  fasted,  in  her  youth, 
for  ten  days,  and  throughout  her  life  placed  the  firmest  faith  in  the 
visions  which  had  appeared  to  her  at  that  time.  Among  the 
Northern  Algonquins,  the  practice,  down  .to  a  recent  day,  was 
almost  universal. 
VOL.  i.  —  5 


66  INTRODUCTION. 

it,  —  as  a  bone,  a  feather,  a  snake-skin,  or  a  tuft  of 
hair.  This,  in  the  modern  language  of  the  forest 
and  prairie,  is  known  as  his  "medicine."  The  Indian 
yields  to  it  a  sort  of  worship,  propitiates  it  with 
offerings  of  tobacco,  thanks  it  in  prosperity,  and 
upbraids  it  in  disaster.1  If  his  medicine  fails  to 
bring  the  desired  success,  he  will  sometimes  discard 
it  and  adopt  another.  The  superstition  now  becomes 
mere  fetich-worship,  since  the  Indian  regards  the 
mysterious  object  which  he  carries  about  him  rather 
as  an  embodiment  than  as  a  representative  of  a 
supernatural  power. 

Indian  belief  recognizes  also  another  and  very 
different  class  of  beings.  Besides  the  giants  and 
monsters  of  legendary  lore,  other  conceptions  may  be 
discerned,  more  or  less  distinct,  and  of  a  character 
partly  mythical.  Of  these  the  most  conspicuous  is 
that  remarkable  personage  of  Algonquin  tradition, 
called  Manabozho,  Messou,  Michabou,  Nanabush,  or 
the  Great  Hare.  As  each  species  of  animal  has 
its  archetype  or  king,  so,  among  the  Algonquins, 
Manabozho  is  king  of  all  these  animal  kings.  Tradi- 
tion is  diverse  as  to  his  origin.  According  to  the 
most  current  belief,  his  father  was  the  West- Wind, 

1  The  author  has  seen  a  Dahcotah  warrior  open  his  medicine- 
bag,  talk  with  an  air  of  affectionate  respect  to  the  bone,  feather, 
or  horn  within,  and  blow  tobacco-smoke  upon  it  as  an  offering. 
"  Medicines "  are  acquired  not  only  by  fasting,  but  by  casual 
dreams,  and  otherwise.  They  are  sometimes  even  bought  and  sold. 
For  a  curious  account  of  medicine-bags  and  fetich-worship  among 
the  Algonquins  of  Gasps',  see  Le  Clerc,  Nouvelle  Relation  de  la 
Gaspesie,  chap.  xiii. 


MANABOZHO.  67 

and  his  mother  a  great-granddaughter  of  the  moon. 
His  character  is  worthy  of  such  a  parentage.  Some- 
times he  is  a  wolf,  a  bird,  or  a  gigantic  hare,  sur- 
rounded by  a  court  of  quadrupeds;  sometimes  he 
appears  in  human  shape,  majestic  in  stature  and 
wondrous  in  endowment,  —  a  mighty  magician,  a 
destroyer  of  serpents  and  evil  manitous;  sometimes 
he  is  a  vain  and  treacherous  imp,  full  of  childish 
whims  and  petty  trickery,  the  butt  and  victim  of 
men,  beasts,  and  spirits.  His  powers  of  transforma- 
tion are  without  limit;  his  curiosity  and  malice  are 
insatiable;  and  of  the  numberless  legends  of  which 
he  is  the  hero,  the  greater  part  are  as  trivial  as  they 
are  incoherent.1  It  does  not  appear  that  Manabozho 
was  ever  an  object  of  worship;  yet,  despite  his 
absurdity,  tradition  declares  him  to  be  chief  among 
the  manitous,  in  short,  the  "Great  Spirit."2  It  was 
he  who  restored  the  world,  submerged  by  a  deluge. 
He  was  hunting  in  company  with  a  certain  wolf, 
who  was  his  brother,  or,  by  other  accounts,  his 
grandson,  when  his  quadruped  relative  fell  through 
the  ice  of  a  frozen  lake,  and  was  at  once  devoured  by 

1  Mr.  Schoolcraft  has  collected  many  of  these  tales.     See  his  Algic 
Researches,  vol.   i.     Compare  the   stories  of  Messou,  given  by  Le 
Jeune  (Relations,  1633,  1634),  and  the  account  of  Nanabush,  by 
Edwin  James,  in  his  notes  to  Tanner's  Narrative  of  Captivity  and 
Adventures  during  a  Thirty  Years'  Residence  among  the  Indians;  also 
the  account  of  the  Great  Hare,  in  the  Memoire  of  Nicolas  Perrot, 
chaps,  i.,  ii. 

2  "  Presque  toutes  les  Nations  Algonquines  ont  donne  le  nom 
de    Grand   Lievre    au   Premier    Esprit,    quelques-uns    1'appellent 
Michabou  (Manabozho)."  —  Charlevoix,  Journal  Historique,  344. 


68  INTRODUCTION. 

certain  serpents  lurking  in  the  depths  of  the  waters. 
Manabozho,  intent  on  revenge,  transformed  himself 
into  the  stump  of  a  tree,  and  by  this  artifice  surprised 
and  slew  the  king  of  the  serpents,  as  he  basked  with 
his  followers  in  the  noontide  sun.  The  serpents, 
who  were  all  manitous,  caused,  in  their  rage,  the 
waters  of  the  lake  to  deluge  the  earth.  Manabozho 
climbed  a  tree,  which,  in  answer  to  his  entreaties, 
grew  as  the  flood  rose  around  it,  and  thus  saved  him 
from  the  vengeance  of  the  evil  spirits.  Submerged 
to  the  neck,  he  looked  abroad  on  the  waste  of  waters, 
and  at  length  descried  the  bird  known  as  the  loon,  to 
whom  he  appealed  for  aid  in  the  task  of  restoring  the 
world.  The  loon  dived  in  search  of  a  little  mud,  as 
material  for  reconstruction,  but  could  not  reach  the 
bottom.  A  musk-rat  made  the  same  attempt,  but 
soon  reappeared  floating  on  his  back,  and  apparently 
dead.  Manabozho,  however,  on  searching  his  paws, 
discovered  in  one  of  them  a  particle  of  the  desired 
mud,  and  of  this,  together  with  the  body  of  the  loon, 
created  the  world  anew.1 

There  are  various  forms  of  this  tradition,  in  some 
of  which  Manabozho  appears,  not  as  the  restorer,  but 
as  the  creator  of  the  world,  forming  mankind  from 
the  carcasses  of  beasts,  birds,  and  fishes.2  Other 

1  This  is  a  form  of  the  story  still  current  among  the  remoter 
Algonquins.     Compare  the  story  of  Messou,  in  Le  Jeune,  Relation, 
1633,  16.    It  is  substantially  the  same. 

2  In  the  beginning  of  all  things,  Manabozho,  in  the  form  of  the 
Great  Hare,  was  on  a  raft,  surrounded  by  animals  who  acknowl- 
edged him  as  their  chief.    No  land  could  be  seen.     Anxious  to 


ATAHOCAN.  69 

stories  represent  him  as  marrying  a  female  musk-rat, 
by  whom  he  became  the  progenitor  of  the  human 
race.1 

Searching  for  some  higher  conception  of  super- 
natural existence,  we  find,  among  a  portion  of  the 
primitive  Algonquins,  traces  of  a  vague  belief  in  a 
spirit  dimly  shadowed  forth  under  the  name  of 
Atahocan,  to  whom  it  does  not  appear  that  any  attri- 
butes were  ascribed  or  any  worship  offered,  and  of 
whom  the  Indians  professed  to  know  nothing  what- 
ever ; 2  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  this  belief 
extended  beyond  certain  tribes  of  the  Lower  St. 
Lawrence.  Others  saw  a  supreme  manitou  in  the 
Sun.3  The  Algonquins  believed  also  in  a  malignant 

create  the  world,  the  Great  Hare  persuaded  the  beaver  to  dive  for 
mud ;  but  the  adventurous  diver  floated  to  the  surface  senseless. 
The  otter  next  tried,  and  failed  like  his  predecessor.  The  musk-rat 
now  offered  himself  for  the  desperate  task.  He  plunged,  and,  after 
remaining  a  day  and  night  beneath  the  surface,  reappeared,  floating 
on  his  back  beside  the  raft,  apparently  dead,  and  with  all  his  paws 
fast  closed.  On  opening  them,  the  other  animals  found  in  one  of 
them  a  grain  of  sand,  and  of  this  the  Great  Hare  created  the  world. 
—  Perrot,  Memoire,  chap.  i. 

1  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  16.    The  musk-rat  is  always  a  con- 
spicuous figure  in  Algonquin  cosmogony. 

It  is  said  that  Messou,  or  Manabozho,  once  gave  to  an  Indian 
the  gift  of  immortality,  tied  in  a  bundle,  enjoining  him  never  to 
open  it.  The  Indian's  wife,  however,  impelled  by  curiosity,  one 
day  cut  the  string :  the  precious  gift  flew  out,  and  Indians  have 
ever  since  been  subject  to  death.  —  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1634,  13. 

2  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  16;  Relation,  1634,  13. 

8  Biard,  Relation,  1611,  chap.  viii.  —  This  belief  was  very  preva- 
lent. The  Ottawas,  according  to  Kagueneau  (Relation  des  Hurons, 
1648,77),  were  accustomed  to  invoke  the  "Maker  of  Heaven  "at 
their  feasts ;  but  they  recognized  as  distinct  persons  the  Maker  of 


70  INTRODUCTION. 

manitou,  in  whom  the  early  missionaries  failed  not  to 
recognize  the  Devil,  but  who  was  far  less  dreaded 
than  his  wife.  She  wore  a  robe  made  of  the  hair  of 
her  victims,  for  she  was  the  cause  of  death ;  and  she 
it  was  whom,  by  yelling,  drumming,  and  stamping, 
they  sought  to  drive  away  from  the  sick.  Some- 
times, at  night,  she  was  seen  by  some  terrified  squaw 
in  the  forest,  in  shape  like  a  flame  of  fire ;  and  when 
the  vision  was  announced  to  the  circle  crouched 
around  the  lodge-fire,  they  burned  a  fragment  of 
meat  to  appease  the  female  fiend. 

The  East,  the  West,  the  North,  and  the  South 
were  vaguely  personified  as  spirits  or  manitous. 
Some  of  the  winds,  too,  were  personal  existences. 
The  West-Wind,  as  we  have  seen,  was  father  of 
Manabozho.  There  was  a  Summer-Maker  and  a 
Winter-Maker;  and  the  Indians  tried  to  keep  the 
latter  at  bay  by  throwing  firebrands  into  the  air. 

When  we  turn  from  the  Algonquin  family  of  tribes 
to  that  of  the  Iroquois,  we  find  another  cosmogony, 
and  other  conceptions  of  spiritual  existence.  While 
the  earth  was  as  yet  a  waste  of  waters,  there  was, 
according  to  Iroquois  and  Huron  traditions,  a  heaven 
with  lakes,  streams,  plains,  and  forests,  inhabited  by 
animals,  by  spirits,  and,  as  some  affirm,  by  human 
beings.  Here  a  certain  female  spirit,  named  Ataentsic, 

the  Earth,  the  Maker  of  Winter,  the  God  of  the  "Waters,  and  the 
Seven  Spirits  of  the  Wind.  He  says,  at  the  same  time,  "  The  peo- 
ple of  these  countries  have  received  from  their  ancestors  no 
knowledge  of  a  God ; "  and  he  adds,  that  there  is  no  sentiment  of 
religion  in  this  invocation. 


ATAENTSIC.  71 

was  once  chasing  a  bear,  which,  slipping  through  a 
hole,  fell  down  to  the  earth.  Ataentsic's  dog  fol- 
lowed, when  she  herself,  struck  with  despair,  jumped 
after  them.  Others  declare  that  she  was  kicked  out 
of  heaven  by  the  spirit,  her  husband,  for  an  amour 
with  a  man;  while  others,  again,  hold  the  belief  that 
she  fell  in  the  attempt  to  gather  for  her  husband  the 
medicinal  leaves  of  a  certain  tree.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  animals  swimming  in  the  watery  waste  below  saw 
her  falling,  and  hastily  met  in  council  to  determine 
what  should  be  done.  The  case  was  referred  to  the 
beaver.  The  beaver  commended  it  to  the  judgment 
of  the  tortoise,  who  thereupon  called  on  the  other 
animals  to  dive,  bring  up  mud,  and  place  it  on  his 
back.  Thus  was  formed  a  floating  island,  on  which 
Ataentsic  fell;  and  here,  being  pregnant,  she  was 
soon  delivered  of  a  daughter,  who  in  turn  bore  two 
boys,  whose  paternity  is  unexplained.  They  were 
called  Taouscaron  and  Jouskeha,  and  presently  fell 
to  blows,  Jouskeha  killing  his  brother  with  the  horn 
of  a  stag.  The  back  of  the  tortoise  grew  into  a  world 
full  of  verdure  and  life;  and  Jouskeha,  with  his 
grandmother,  Ataentsic,  ruled  over  its  destinies.1 

1  The  above  is  the  version  of  the  story  given  by  Brebeuf,  Rela- 
tion des  Hurons,  1636,  86  (Cramoisy).  No  two  Indians  told  it  pre- 
cisely alike,  though  nearly  all  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois  agreed  as 
to  its  essential  points.  Compare  Vanderdonck,  Cusick,  Sagard, 
and  other  writers.  According  to  Vanderdonck,  Ataentsic  became 
mother  of  a  deer,  a  bear,  and  a  wolf,  by  whom  she  afterwards  bore 
all  the  other  animals,  mankind  included.  Brebeuf  found  also  among 
the  Hurons  a  tradition  inconsistent  with  that  of  Ataentsic,  and 
bearing  a  trace  of  Algonquin  origin.  It  declares,  that,  in  the 
beginning,  a  man,  a  fox,  and  a  skunk  found  themselves  together  on 


72  INTRODUCTION. 

He  is  the  Sun;  she  is  the  Moon.  He  is  beneficent; 
but  she  is  malignant,  like  the  female  demon  of  the 
Algonquins.  They  have  a  bark  house,  made  like 
those  of  the  Iroquois,  at  the  end  of  the  earth,  and 
they  often  come  to  feasts  and  dances  in  the  Indian 
villages.  Jouskeha  raises  corn  for  himself,  and 
makes  plentiful  harvests  for  mankind.  Sometimes 
he  is  seen,  thin  as  a  skeleton,  with  a  spike  of  shriv- 
elled corn  in  his  hand,  or  greedily  gnawing  a  human 
limb;  and  then  the  Indians  know  that  a  grievous 
famine  awaits  them.  He  constantly  interposes  between 
mankind  and  the  malice  of  his  wicked  grandmother, 
whom,  at  times,  he  soundly  cudgels.  It  was  he  who 
made  lakes  and  streams:  for  once  the  earth  was 
parched  and  barren,  all  the  water  being  gathered 
under  the  armpit  of  a  colossal  frog;  but  Jouskeha 
pierced  the  armpit,  and  let  out  the  water.  No 
prayers  were  offered  to  him,  his  benevolent  nature 
rendering  them  superfluous.1 

The  early  writers  call  Jouskeha  the  creator  of  the 
world,  and  speak  of  him  as  corresponding  to  the 
vague  Algonquin  deity,  Atahocan.  Another  deity 

an  island,  and  that  the  man  made  the  world  out  of  mud  brought 
him  by  the  skunk. 

The  Delawares,  an  Algonquin  tribe,  seem  to  have  borrowed 
somewhat  of  the  Iroquois  cosmogony,  since  they  believed  that  the 
earth  was  formed  on  the  back  of  a  tortoise. 

According  to  some,  Jouskeha  became  the  father  of  the  human 
race ;  but,  in  the  third  generation,  a  deluge  destroyed  his  posterity, 
so  that  it  was  necessary  to  transform  animals  into  men.  Charle- 
voix,  iii.  345. 

1  Compare  BreTaeuf,  as  before  cited,  and  Sagard,  Voyage  des 
Hurons,  228. 


HIAWATHA.  73 

appears  in  Iroquois  mythology,  with  equal  claims  to 
be  regarded  as  supreme.  He  is  called  Areskoui,  or 
Agreskoui,  and  his  most  prominent  attributes  are 
those  of  a  god  of  war.  He  was  often  invoked,  and 
the  flesh  of  animals  and  of  captive  enemies  was 
burned  in  his  honor. J  Like  Jouskeha,  he  was  iden- 
tified with  the  sun;  and  he  is  perhaps  to  be  regarded 
as  the  same  being,  under  different  attributes.  Among 
the  Iroquois  proper,  or  Five  Nations,  there  was  also 
a  divinity  called  Tarenyowagon,  or  Teharonhiawagon,2 
whose  place  and  character  it  is  very  difficult  to  de- 
termine. In  some  traditions  he  appears  as  the  son  of 
Jouskeha.  He  had  a  prodigious  influence ;  for  it  was 
he  who  spoke  to  men  in  dreams.  The  Five  Nations 
recognized  still  another  superhuman  personage,  — 
plainly  a  deified  chief  or  hero.  This  was  Taounya- 
watha,  or  Hiawatha,  said  to  be  a  divinely  appointed 
messenger,  who  made  his  abode  on  earth  for  the 
political  and  social  instruction  of  the  chosen  race,  and 
whose  counterpart  is  to  be  found  in  the  traditions  of  the 
Peruvians,  Mexicans,  and  other  primitive  nations.3 

1  Father  Jogues  saw  a  female  prisoner  burned  to  Areskoui,  and 
two  bears  offered  to  him  to  atone  for  the  sin  of  not  burning  more 
captives.  — Lettre  de  Jogues,  5  Aug.,  1643. 

2  Le   Mercier,  Relation,   1670,   66;  Dablon,   Relation,   1671,   17. 
Compare  Cusick,  Megapolensis,  and  Vanderdonck.     Some  writers 
identify  Tarenyowagon  and  Hiawatha.    Vanderdonck  assumes  that 
Areskoui  is  the  Devil,  and  Tarenyowagon  is  God.    Thus  Indian 
notions  are  often  interpreted  by  the  light  of  preconceived  ideas. 

8  For  the  tradition  of  Hiawatha,  see  Clark,  History  of  Onondaga, 
i.  21.  It  will  also  be  found  in  Schoolcraft's  Notes  on  the  Iroquois, 
and  in  his  History,  Condition,  and  Prospects  of  Indian  Tribes. 

The  Iroquois  name  for  God  is  Hawenniio,  sometimes    written 


74  INTRODUCTION. 

Close  examination  makes  it  evident  that  the  primi- 
tive Indian's  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being  was  a  concep- 
tion no  higher  than  might  have  been  expected.  The 
moment  he  began  to  contemplate  this  object  of  his 
faith,  and  sought  to  clothe  it  with  attributes,  it 
became  finite,  and  commonly  ridiculous.  The  Creator 
of  the  World  stood  on  the  level  of  a  barbarous  and 
degraded  humanity,  while  a  natural  tendency  became 
apparent  to  look  beyond  him  to  other  powers  sharing 
his  dominion.  The  Indian  belief,  if  developed,  would 
have  developed  into  a  system  of  polytheism.1 

In  the  primitive  Indian's  conception  of  a  God  the 
idea  of  moral  good  has  no  part.  His  deity  does  not 
dispense  justice  for  this  world  or  the  next,  but  leaves 
mankind  under  the  power  of  subordinate  spirits,  who 
fill  and  control  the  universe.  Nor  is  the  good  and 
evil  of  these  inferior  beings  a  moral  good  and  evil. 
The  good  spirit  is  the  spirit  that  gives  good  luck, 
and  ministers  to  the  necessities  and  desires  of  man- 
kind: the  evil  spirit  is  simply  a  malicious  agent  of 
disease,  death,  and  mischance. 

Owayneo ;  but  this  use  of  the  word  is  wholly  due  to  the  mission- 
aries. Hawenniio  is  an  Iroquois  verb,  and  means  he  rules,  he  is 
master.  There  is  no  Iroquois  word  which,  in  its  primitive  meaning, 
can  be  interpreted  the  Great  Spirit,  or  God.  On  this  subject,  see 
Etudes  Philologiques  sur  quelqiies  Langues  Sauvages  (Montreal,  1866), 
where  will  also  be  found  a  curious  exposure  of  a  few  of  School- 
craft's  ridiculous  blunders  in  this  connection. 

1  Some  of  the  early  writers  could  discover  no  trace  of  belief  in 
a  supreme  spirit  of  any  kind.  Perrot,  after  a  life  spent  among  the 
Indians,  ignores  such  an  idea.  Allouez  emphatically  denies  that 
it  existed  among  the  tribes  of  Lake  Superior.  (Relation,  1667,  11.) 
He  adds,  however,  that  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  believed  in  a  great 
genie,  who  lived  not  far  from  the  French  settlements.  —  Ibid.,  21. 


THE  GREAT  SPIRIT.  75 

In  no  Indian  language  could  the  early  missionaries 
find  a  word  to  express  the  idea  of  God.  Manitou 
and  Oki  meant  anything  endowed  with  supernatural 
powers,  from  a  snake-skin,  or  a  greasy  Indian  con- 
jurer, up  to  Manabozho  and  Jouskeha.  The  priests 
were  forced  to  use  a  circumlocution,  —  "  The  Great 
Chief  of  Men,"  or  "  He  who  lives  in  the  Sky." 1  Yet 
it  should  seem  that  the  idea  of  a  supreme  controlling 
spirit  might  naturally  arise  from  the  peculiar  charac- 
ter of  Indian  belief.  The  idea  that  each  race  of 
animals  has  its  archetype  or  chief  would  easily  sug- 
gest the  existence  of  a  supreme  chief  of  the  spirits 
or  of  the  human  race,  —  a  conception  imperfectly 
shadowed  forth  in  Manabozho.  The  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries seized  this  advantage.  "If  each  sort  of 
animal  has  its  king,"  they  urged,  "so,  too,  have 
men ;  and  as  man  is  above  all  the  animals,  so  is  the 
spirit  that  rules  over  men  the  master  of  all  the  other 
spirits."  The  Indian  mind  readily  accepted  the 
idea,  and  tribes  in  no  sense  Christian  quickly  rose  to 
the  belief  in  one  controlling  spirit.  The  Great  Spirit 
became  a  distinct  existence,  a  pervading  power  in 
the  universe,  and  a  dispenser  of  justice.  Many  tribes 
now  pray  to  him,  though  still  clinging  obstinately  to 
their  ancient  superstitions;  and  with  some,  as  the 
heathen  portion  of  the  modern  Iroquois,  he  is  clothed 
with  attributes  of  moral  good.2 

1  See   "  Divers   Sentimens,"  appended  to  the  Relation  of   1635, 
§  27 ;  and  also  many  other  passages  of  early  missionaries. 

2  In  studying  the  writers  of  the  last  and   of  the   present   cen- 
tury, it  is  to  be  remembered  that   their   observations  were  made 


76  INTRODUCTION. 

The  primitive  Indian  believed  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,1  but  he  did  not  always  believe  in  a  state 
of  future  reward  and  punishment.  Nor,  when  such 
a  belief  existed,  was  the  good  to  be  rewarded  a  moral 
good,  or  the  evil  to  be  punished  a  moral  evil.  Skil- 
ful hunters,  brave  warriors,  men  of  influence  and 
consideration,  went,  after  death,  to  the  happy  hunting- 
ground;  while  the  slothful,  the  cowardly,  and  the 
weak  were  doomed  to  eat  serpents  and  ashes  in  dreary 

upon  savages  who  had  been  for  generations  in  contact,  immediate 
or  otherwise,  with  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Many  observers 
have  interpreted  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Indians  after  precon- 
ceived ideas  of  their  own ;  and  it  may  safely  be  affirmed  that  an 
Indian  will  respond  with  a  grunt  of  acquiescence  to  any  question 
whatever  touching  his  spiritual  state.  Loskiel  and  the  simple- 
minded  Heckewelder  write  from  a  missionary  point  of  view ;  Adair, 
to  support  a  theory  of  descent  from  the  Jews ;  the  worthy  theo- 
logian, Jarvis,  to  maintain  his  dogma  that  all  religious  ideas  of 
the  heathen  world  are  perversions  of  revelation;  and  so,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  of  many  others.  By  far  the  most  close  and 
accurate  observers  of  Indian  superstition  were  the  French  and 
Italian  Jesuits  of  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Their 
opportunities  were  unrivalled ;  and  they  used  them  in  a  spirit  of 
faithful  inquiry,  accumulating  facts,  and  leaving  theory  to  their 
successors.  Of  recent  American  writers,  no  one  has  given  so  much 
attention  to  the  subject  as  Mr.  Schoolcraft;  but,  in  view  of  his 
opportunities  and  his  zeal,  his  results  are  most  unsatisfactory.  The 
work  in  six  large  quarto  volumes,  History,  Condition,  and  Prospects 
of  Indian  Tribes,  published  by  Government  under  his  editorship, 
includes  the  substance  of  most  of  his  previous  writings.  It  is  a 
singularly  crude  and  illiterate  production,  stuffed  with  blunders 
and  contradictions,  giving  evidence  on  every  page  of  a  striking 
unfitness  either  for  historical  or  philosophical  inquiry,  and  taxing 
to  the  utmost  the  patience  of  those  who  would  extract  what  is 
valuable  in  it  from  its  oceans  of  pedantic  verbiage. 

1  The  exceptions  are  exceedingly  rare.  Father  Gravier  says 
that  a  Peoria  Indian  once  told  him  that  there  was  no  future  life. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  another  instance  of  the  kind. 


THE  JOURNEY  OF  THE  DEAD.  77 

regions  of  mist  and  darkness.  In  the  general  belief, 
however,  there  was  but  one  land  of  shades  for  all 
alike.  The  spirits,  in  form  and  feature  as  they  had 
been  in  life,  wended  their  way  through  dark  forests 
to  the  villages  of  the  dead,  subsisting  on  bark  and 
rotten  wood.  On  arriving,  they  sat  all  day  in  the 
crouching  posture  of  the  sick,  and,  when  night  came, 
hunted  the  shades  of  animals,  with  the  shades  of 
bows  and  arrows,  among  the  shades  of  trees  and 
rocks:  for  all  things,  animate  and  inanimate,  were 
alike  immortal,  and  all  passed  together  to  the  gloomy 
country  of  the  dead. 

The  belief  respecting  the  land  of  souls  varied 
greatly  in  different  tribes  and  different  individuals. 
Among  the  Hurons  there  were  those  who  held  that 
departed  spirits  pursued  their  journey  through  the 
sky,  along  the  Milky  Way,  while  the  souls  of  dogs 
took  another  route,  by  certain  constellations,  known 
as  the  "Way  of  the  Dogs."1 

At  intervals  of  ten  or  twelve  years,  the  Hurons, 
the  Neutrals,  and  other  kindred  tribes,  were  accus- 
tomed to  collect  the  bones  of  their  dead,  and  deposit 
them,  with  great  ceremony,  in  a  common  place  of 
burial.  The  whole  nation  was  sometimes  assembled 
at  this  solemnity;  and  hundreds  of  corpses,  brought 
from  their  temporary  resting-places,  were  inhumed 
in  one  capacious  pit.  From  this  hour  the  immortal- 
ity of  their  souls  began.  They  took  wing,  as  some 
affirmed,  in  the  shape  of  pigeons;  while  the  greater 

1  Sagard,  Voyage  des  Hurons,  233. 


78  INTRODUCTION. 

number  declared  that  they  journeyed  on  foot,  and  in 
their  own  likeness,  to  the  land  of  shades,  bearing 
with  them  the  ghosts  of  the  wampum-belts,  beaver- 
skins,  bows,  arrows,  pipes,  kettles,  beads,  and  rings 
buried  with  them  in  the  common  grave.1  But  as 
the  spirits  of  the  old  and  of  children  are  too  feeble 
for  the  march,  they  are  forced  to  stay  behind,  linger- 
ing near  their  earthly  villages,  where  the  living  often 
hear  the  shutting  of  their  invisible  cabin-doors,  and 
the  weak  voices  of  the  disembodied  children  driving 
birds  from  their  corn-fields.2  An  endless  variety  of 
incoherent  fancies  is  connected  with  the  Indian  idea 
of  a  future  life.  They  commonly  owe  their  origin  to 
dreams,  often  to  the  dreams  of  those  in  extreme  sick- 
ness, who,  on  awakening,  supposed  that  they  had 
visited  the  other  world,  and  related  to  the  wondering 
bystanders  what  they  had  seen. 

The  Indian  land  of  souls  is  not  always  a  region  of 
shadows  and  gloom.  The  Hurons  sometimes  repre- 
sented the  souls  of  their  dead  —  those  of  their  dogs 
included  —  as  dancing  joyously  in  the  presence  of 
Ataentsic  and  Jouskeha.  According  to  some  Algon- 
quin traditions,  heaven  was  a  scene  of  endless  festiv- 
ity, the  ghosts  dancing  to  the  sound  of  the  rattle  and 

1  The  practice  of  burying  treasures  with  the  dead  is  not  peculiar 
to   the  North  American  aborigines.    Thus,  the   London  Times  of 
Oct.  28,  1865,  describing  the  funeral  rites  of  Lord  Palmerston,  says  : 
"  And  as  the  words, '  Dust  to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes,'  were  pronounced, 
the  chief  mourner,  as  a  last  precious  offering  to  the  dead,  threw 
into  the  grave  several  diamond  and  gold  rings." 

2  BreTaeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  99  (Cramoisy). 


THE  JOURNEY  OF  THE  DEAD.      79 

the  drum,  and  greeting  with  hospitable  welcome  the 
occasional  visitor  from  the  living  world:  for  the 
spirit-land  was  not  far  off,  and  roving  hunters  some- 
times passed  its  confines  unawares. 

Most  of  the  traditions  agree,  however,  that  the 
spirits,  on  their  journey  heavenward,  were  beset  with 
difficulties  and  perils.  There  was  a  swift  river  which 
must  be  crossed  on  a  log  that  shook  beneath  their 
feet,  while  a  ferocious  dog  opposed  their  passage, 
and  drove  many  into  the  abyss.  This  river  was  full 
of  sturgeon  and  other  fish,  which  the  ghosts  speared 
for  their  subsistence.  Beyond  was  a  narrow  path 
between  moving  rocks,  which  each  instant  crashed 
together,  grinding  to  atoms  the  less  nimble  of  the 
pilgrims  who  essayed  to  pass.  The  Hurons  believed 
that  a  personage  named  Oscotarach,  or  the  Head- 
Piercer,  dwelt  in  a  bark  house  beside  the  path,  and 
that  it  was  his  office  to  remove  the  brains  from  the 
heads  of  all  who  went  by,  as  a  necessary  preparation 
for  immortality.  This  singular  idea  is  found  also 
in  some  Algonquin  traditions,  according  to  which, 
however,  the  brain  is  afterwards  restored  to  its 
owner.1 

1  On  Indian  ideas  of  another  life,  compare  Sagard,  the  Jesuit 
Relations,  Perrot,  Charlevoix,  and  Lafitau,  with  Tanner,  James, 
Schoolcraft,  and  the  Appendix  to  Morse's  Indian  Report. 

Le  Clerc  recounts  a  singular  story,  current  in  his  time  among 
the  Algonquins  of  Gaspe'  and  northern  New  Brunswick.  The  fa- 
vorite son  of  an  old  Indian  died ;  whereupon  the  father,  with  a  party 
of  friends,  set  out  for  the  land  of  souls  to  recover  him.  It  was 
only  necessary  to  wade  through  a  shallow  lake,  several  days'  jour- 
ney in  extent.  This  they  did,  sleeping  at  night  on  platforms  of 


80  INTRODUCTION. 

Dreams  were  to  the  Indian  a  universal  oracle. 
They  revealed  to  him  his  guardian  spirit,  taught  him 
the  cure  of  his  diseases,  warned  him  of  the  devices  of 
sorcerers,  guided  him  to  the  lurking-places  of  his 
enemy  or  the  haunts  of  game,  and  unfolded  the 
secrets  of  good  and  evil  destiny.  The  dream  was 
a  mysterious  and  inexorable  power,  whose  least 
behests  must  be  obeyed  to  the  letter,  —  a  source,  in 
every  Indian  town,  of  endless  mischief  and  abomina- 
tion. There  were  professed  dreamers,  and  professed 
interpreters  of  dreams.  One  of  the  most  noted  festi- 
vals among  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois  was  the  Dream 
Feast,  a  scene  of  frenzy,  where  the  actors  counter- 
feited madness,  and  the  town  was  like  a  bedlam 
turned  loose.  Each  pretended  to  have  dreamed  of 
something  necessary  to  his  welfare,  and  rushed  from 

poles  which  supported  them  above  the  water.  At  length  they 
arrived,  and  were  met  by  Papkootparout,  the  Indian  Pluto,  who 
rushed  on  them  in  a  rage,  with  his  war-club  upraised;  but,  pres- 
ently relenting,  changed  his  mind,  and  challenged  them  to  a  game 
of  ball.  They  proved  the  victors,  and  won  the  stakes,  consisting  of 
corn,  tobacco,  and  certain  fruits,  which  thus  became  known  to 
mankind.  The  bereaved  father  now  begged  hard  for  his  son's 
soul,  and  Papkootparout  at  last  gave  it  to  him,  in  the  form  and 
size  of  a  nut,  which,  by  pressing  it  hard  between  his  hands,  he 
forced  into  a  small  leather  bag.  The  delighted  parent  carried  it 
back  to  earth,  with  instructions  to  insert  it  in  the  body  of  his  son, 
who  would  thereupon  return  to  life.  When  the  adventurers 
reached  home,  and  reported  the  happy  issue  of  their  journey, 
there  was  a  dance  of  rejoicing;  and  the  father,  wishing  to  take 
part  in  it,  gave  his  son's  soul  to  the  keeping  of  a  squaw  who 
stood  by.  Being  curious  to  see  it,  she  opened  the  bag ;  on  which 
it  escaped  at  once,  and  took  flight  for  the  realms  of  Papkootparout, 
preferring  them  to  the  abode?  of  the  living.  —  Le  Clerc,  Nouvelle 
Relation  de  la  Gaspesie,  310-32^ 


INDIAN  SORCERERS.  81 

house  to  house,  demanding  of  all  he  met  to  guess  his 
secret  requirement  and  satisfy  it. 

Believing  that  the  whole  material  world  was 
instinct  with  powers  to  influence  and  control  his 
fate ;  that  good  and  evil  spirits,  and  existences  name- 
less and  indefinable,  filled  all  Nature ;  that  a  pervad- 
ing sorcery  was  above,  below,  and  around  him,  and 
that  issues  of  life  and  death  might  be  controlled  by 
instruments  the  most  unnoticeable  and  seemingly  the 
most  feeble,  —  the  Indian  lived  in  perpetual  fear. 
The  turning  of  a  leaf,  the  crawling  of  an  insect,  the 
cry  of  a  bird,  the  creaking  of  a  bough,  might  be  to 
him  the  mystic  signal  of  weal  or  woe. 

An  Indian  community  swarmed  with  sorcerers, 
medicine-men,  and  diviners,  whose  functions  were 
often  united  in  the  same  person.  The  sorcerer,  by 
charms,  magic  songs,  magic  feasts,  and  the  beating 
of  his  drum,  had  power  over  the  spirits  and  those 
occult  influences  inherent  in  animals  and  inanimate 
things.  He  could  call  to  him  the  souls  of  his  ene- 
mies. They  appeared  before  him  in  the  form  of 
stones.  He  chopped  and  bruised  them  with  his 
hatchet;  blood  and  flesh  issued  forth;  and  the 
intended  victim,  however  distant,  languished  and 
died.  Like  the  sorcerer  of  the  Middle  Ages,  he 
made  images  of  those  he  wished  to  destroy,  and, 
muttering  incantations,  punctured  them  with  an  awl, 
whereupon  the  persons  represented  sickened  and 
pined  away. 

The  Indian  doctor  relied  far  more  on  magic  than 

VOL.    I.  —  0 


82  INTRODUCTION. 

on  natural  remedies.  Dreams,  beating  of  the  drum, 
songs,  magic  feasts  and  dances,  and  howling  to 
frighten  the  female  demon  from  his  patient  were  his 
ordinary  methods  of  cure. 

The  prophet,  or  diviner,  had  various  means  of 
reading  the  secrets  of  futurity,  such  as  the  flight  of 
birds,  and  the  movements  of  water -and  fire.  There 
was  a  peculiar  practice  of  divination  very  general  in 
the  Algonquin  family  of  tribes,  among  some  of  whom 
it  still  subsists.  A  small,  conical  lodge  was  made  by 
planting  poles  in  a  circle,  lashing  the  tops  together 
at  the  height  of  about  seven  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  closely  covering  them  with  hides.  The  prophet 
crawled  in,  and  closed  the  aperture  after  him.  He 
then  beat  his  drum  and  sang  his  magic  songs  to 
summon  the  spirits,  whose  weak,  shrill  voices  were 
soon  heard,  mingled  with  his  lugubrious  chanting; 
while  at  intervals  the  juggler  paused  to  interpret 
their  communications  to  the  attentive  crowd  seated 
on  the  ground  without.  During  the  whole  scene,  the 
lodge  swayed  to  and  fro  with  a  violence  which  has 
astonished  many  a  civilized  beholder,  and  which  some 
of  the  Jesuits  explain  by  the  ready  solution  of  a 
genuine  diabolic  intervention.1 

The  sorcerers,  medicine-men,  and  diviners  did  not 
usually  exercise  the  function  of  priests.  Each  man 

1  This  practice  was  first  observed  by  Champlain.  (See  "  Pioneers 
of  France  in  the  New  World,"  ii.  169.)  From  his  time  to  the  pres- 
ent, numerous  writers  have  remarked  upon  it.  Le  Jeune,  in  the 
Relation  of  1637,  treats  it  at  some  length.  The  lodge  was  some- 
times of  a  cylindrical,  instead  of  a  conical  form. 


SACRIFICES.  83 

sacrificed  for  himself  to  the  powers  he  wished  to 
propitiate,  whether  his  guardian  spirit,  the  spirits  of 
animals,  or  the  other  beings  of  his  belief.  The  most 
common  offering  was  tobacco,  thrown  into  the  fire  or 
water;  scraps  of  meat  were  sometimes  burned  to  the 
manitous;  and,  on  a  few  rare  occasions  of  public 
solemnity,  a  white  dog,  the  mystic  animal  of  many 
tribes,  was  tied  to  the  end  of  an  upright  pole,  as  a 
sacrifice  to  some  superior  spirit,  or  to  the  sun,  with 
which  the  superior  spirits  were  constantly  confounded 
by  the  primitive  Indian.  In  recent  times,  when 
Judaism  and  Christianity  have  modified  his  religious 
ideas,  it  has  been,  and  still  is,  the  practice  to  sacrifice 
dogs  to  the  Great  Spirit.  On  these  public  occasions, 
the  sacrificial  function  is  discharged  by  chiefs,  or  by 
warriors  appointed  for  the  purpose.1 

Among  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois,  and  indeed  all 
the  stationary  tribes,  there  was  an  incredible  number 

1  Many  of  the  Indian  feasts  were  feasts  of  sacrifice,  —  sometimes 
to  the  guardian  spirit  of  the  host,  sometimes  to  an  animal  of  which 
he  has  dreamed,  sometimes  to  a  local  or  other  spirit.  The  food 
was  first  offered  in  a  loud  voice  to  the  being  to  be  propitiated,  after 
which  the  guests  proceeded  to  devour  it  for  him.  This  unique 
method  of  sacrifice  was  practised  at  war-feasts  and  similar  solemni- 
ties. For  an  excellent  account  of  Indian  religious  feasts,  see  Per- 
rot,  chap.  v. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  Indian  sacrifices  was  that  prac- 
tised by  the  Hurons  in  the  case  of  a  person  drowned  or  frozen  to 
death.  The  flesh  of  the  deceased  was  cut  off,  and  thrown  into  a 
fire  made  for  the  purpose,  as  an  offering  of  propitiation  to  the  spirits 
of  the  air  or  water.  What  remained  of  the  body  was  then  buried 
near  the  fire.  Brelieuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  108. 

The  tribes  of  Virginia,  as  described  by  Beverly  and  others,  not 
only  had  priests  who  offered  sacrifice,  but  idols  and  houses  of 
worship. 


84  INTRODUCTION. 

of  mystic  ceremonies,  extravagant,  puerile,  and  often 
disgusting,  designed  for  the  cure  of  the  sick  or  for 
the  general  weal  of  the  community.  Most  of  their 
observances  seem  originally  to  have  been  dictated  by 
dreams,  and  transmitted  as  a  sacred  heritage  from 
generation  to  generation.  They  consisted  in  an  end- 
less variety  of  dances,  masqueradings,  and  nonde- 
script orgies;  and  a  scrupulous  adherence  to  all  the 
traditional  forms  was  held  to  be  of  the  last  moment, 
as  the  slightest  failure  in  this  respect  might  entail 
serious  calamities.  If  children  were  seen  in  their 
play  imitating  any  of  these  mysteries,  they  were 
grimly  rebuked  and  punished.  In  many  tribes  secret 
magical  societies  existed,  and  still  exist,  into  which 
members  are  initiated  with  peculiar  ceremonies. 
These  associations  are  greatly  respected  and  feared. 
They  have  charms  for  love,  war,  and  private  revenge, 
and  exert  a  great,  and  often  a  very  mischievous  influ- 
ence. The  societies  of  the  Metai  and  the  Wabeno, 
among  the  Northern  Algonquins,  are  conspicuous 
examples;  while  other  societies  of  similar  character 
have,  for  a  century,  been  known  to  exist  among  the 
Dahcotah.1 

A  notice  of  the  superstitious  ideas  of  the  Indians 
would  be  imperfect  without  a  reference  to  the  tradi- 
tionary tales  through  which  these  ideas  are  handed 
down  from  father  to  son.  Some  of  these  tales  can  be 

i  The  Friendly  Society  of  the  Spirit,  of  which  the  initiatory 
ceremonies  were  seen  and  described  by  Carver  (Travels,  271),  pre- 
serves to  this  day  its  existence  and  its  rites. 


TRADITIONARY  TALES.  85 

traced  back  to  the  period  of  the  earliest  intercourse 
with  Europeans.  One  at  least  of  those  recorded  by 
the  first  missionaries,  on  the  Lower  St.  Lawrence,  is 
still  current  among  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Lakes. 
Many  of  them  are  curious  combinations  of  beliefs 
seriously  entertained  with  strokes  intended  for  humor 
and  drollery,  which  never  fail  to  awaken  peals  of 
laughter  in  the  lodge-circle.  Giants,  dwarfs,  can- 
nibals, spirits,  beasts,  birds,  and  anomalous  monsters, 
transformations,  tricks,  and  sorcery  form  the  staple 
of  the  story.  Some  of  the  Iroquois  tales  embody 
conceptions  which,  however  preposterous,  are  of  a 
bold  and  striking  character ;  but  those  of  the  Algon- 
quins  are,  to  an  incredible  degree,  flimsy,  silly,  and 
meaningless;  nor  are  those  of  the  Dahcotah  tribes 
much  better.  In  respect  to  this  wigwam  lore,  there 
is  a  curious  superstition  of  very  wide  prevalence. 
The  tales  must  not  be  told  in  summer;  since  at  that 
season,  when  all  Nature  is  full  of  life,  the  spirits  are 
awake,  and,  hearing  what  is  said  of  them,  may  take 
offence ;  whereas  in  winter  they  are  fast  sealed  up  in 
snow  and  ice,  and  no  longer  capable  of  listening.1 

1  The  prevalence  of  this  fancy  among  the  Algonquins  in  the 
remote  parts  of  Canada  is  well  established.  The  writer  found  it 
also  among  the  extreme  western  bands  of  the  Dahcotah.  He  tried, 
in  the  month  of  July,  to  persuade  an  old  chief,  a  noted  story-teller, 
to  tell  him  some  of  the  tales ;  but,  though  abundantly  loquacious 
in  respect  to  his  own  adventures,  and  even  his  dreams,  the  Indian 
obstinately  refused,  saying  that  winter  was  the  time  for  the  tales, 
and  that  it  was  bad  to  tell  them  in  summer. 

Mr.  Schoolcraft  has  published  a  collection  of  Algonquin  tales, 
under  the  title  of  Algic  Researches.  Most  of  them  were  translated 


86  INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  Indian  mind  has  never 
seriously  occupied  itself  with  any  of  the  higher 
themes  of  thought.  The  beings  of  its  belief  are  not 
impersonations  of  the  forces  of  Nature,  the  courses  of 
human  destiny,  or  the  movements  of  human  intellect, 
will,  and  passion.  In  the  midst  of  Nature,  the  Indian 
knew  nothing  of  her  laws.  His  perpetual  reference 
of  her  phenomena  to  occult  agencies  forestalled 
inquiry  and  precluded  inductive  reasoning.  If  the 
wind  blew  with  violence,  it  was  because  the  water- 
lizard,  which  makes  the  wind,  had  crawled  out  of  his 
pool ;  if  the  lightning  was  sharp  and  frequent,  it  was 
because  the  young  of  the  thunder-bird  were  restless 
in  their  nest;  if  a  blight  fell  upon  the  corn,  it  was 
because  the  Corn  Spirit  was  angry ;  and  if  the  beavers 
were  shy  and  difficult  to  catch,  it  was  because  they 
had  taken  offence  at  seeing  the  bones  of  one  of  their 
race  thrown  to  a  dog.  Well,  and  even  highly  devel- 
oped, in  a  few  instances,  —  I  allude  especially  to  the 
Iroquois,  —  with  respect  to  certain  points  of  material 

by  his  wife,  an  educated  Ojibwa  half-breed.  This  book  is  perhaps 
the  best  of  Mr.  Schoolcraft's  works,  though  its  value  is  much 
impaired  by  the  want  of  a  literal  rendering,  and  the  introduction  of 
decorations  which  savor  more  of  a  popular  monthly  magazine  than 
of  an  Indian  wigwam.  Mrs.  Eastman's  interesting  Legends  of  the 
Sioux  (Dahcotah)  is  not  free  from  the  same  defect.  Other  tales 
are  scattered  throughout  the  works  of  Mr.  Schoolcraft  and  various 
modern  writers.  Some  are  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  Lafitau  and 
the  other  Jesuits.  But  few  of  the  Iroquois  legends  have  been 
printed,  though  a  considerable  number  have  been  written  down. 
The  singular  History  of  the  Five  Nations,  by  the  old  Tuscarora 
Indian,  Cusick,  gives  the  substance  of  some  of  them.  Others  will 
be  found  in  Clark's  History  of  Onondaga. 


RESULTS.  ,         87 

concernment,  the  mind  of  the  Indian  in  other  respects 
was  and  is  almost  hopelessly  stagnant.  The  very- 
traits  that  raise  him  above  the  servite  races  are  hostile 
to  the  kind  and  degree  of  civilization  which  those 
races  so  easily  attain.  His  intractable  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence, and  the  pride  which  forbids  him  to  be  an 
imitator,  reinforce  but  too  strongly  that  savage 
lethargy  of  mind  from  which  it  is  so  hard  to  rouse 
him.  No  race,  perhaps,  ever  offered  greater  difficul- 
ties to  those  laboring  for  its  improvement. 

To  sum  up  the  results  of  this  examination,  the 
primitive  Indian  was  as  savage  in  his  religion  as  in 
his  life.  He  was  divided  between  fetich-worship  and 
that  next  degree  of  religious  development  which 
consists  in  the  worship  of  deities  embodied  in  the 
human  form.  His  conception  of  their  attributes  was 
such  as  might  have  been  expected.  His  gods  were 
no  whit  better  than  himself.  Even  when  he  borrows 
from  Christianity  the  idea  of  a  Supreme  and  Universal 
Spirit,  his  tendency  is  to  reduce  Him  to  a  local  habi- 
tation and  a  bodily  shape ;  and  this  tendency  disap- 
pears only  in  tribes  that  have  been  long  in  contact 
with  civilized  white  men.  The  primitive  Indian, 
yielding  his  untutored  homage  to  One  All-pervad- 
ing and  Omnipotent  Spirit,  is  a  dream  of  poets, 
rhetoricians,  and  sentimentalists. 


CHAPTER  I. 

1634. 
NOTRE-DAME  DES  ANGES. 

QUEBEC   IN   1634.  —  FATHER  LE   JEUNE.  —  THE   MISSION-HOUSE: 
ITS  DOMESTIC  ECONOMY.  —  THE  JESUITS  AND  THEIR  DESIGNS. 

OPPOSITE  Quebec  lies  the  tongue  of  land  called 
Point  Levi.  One  who  in  the  summer  of  the  year 
1634  stood  on  its  margin  and  looked  northward, 
across  the  St.  Lawrence,  would  have  seen,  at  the 
distance  of  a  mile  or  more,  a  range  of  lofty  cliffs, 
rising  on  the  left  into  the  bold  heights  of  Cape 
Diamond,  and  on  the  right  sinking  abruptly  to  the 
bed  of  the  tributary  river  St.  Charles.  Beneath 
these  cliffs,  at  the  brink  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  he 
would  have  descried  a  cluster  of  warehouses,  sheds, 
and  wooden  tenements.  Immediately  above,  along 
the  verge  of  the  precipice,  he  could  have  traced  the 
outlines  of  -a  fortified  work,  with  a  flagstaff,  and  a 
few  small  cannon  to  command  the  river;  while,  at 
the  only  point  where  Nature  had  made  the  heights 
accessible,  a  zigzag  path  connected  the  warehouses 
and  the  fort. 

Now,  embarked  in  the  canoe  of  some  Montagnais 
Indian,  let  him  cross  the  St.  Lawrence,  land  at  the 


Pere  le  Jeune. 


1634.]  QUEBEC  IN  1634.  89 

pier,  and,  passing  the  cluster  of  buildings,  climb  the 
pathway  up  the  cliff.  Pausing  for  rest  and  breath, 
he  might  see,  ascending  and  descending,  the  tenants 
of  this  outpost  of  the  wilderness,  —  a  soldier  of  the 
fort,  or  an  officer  in  slouched  hat  and  plume;  a 
factor  of  the  fur  company,  owner  and  sovereign  lord 
of  all  Canada ;  a  party  of  Indians ;  a  trader  from  the 
upper  country,  one  of  the  precursors  of  that  hardy 
race  of  coureurs  de  bois,  destined  to  form  a  conspicuous 
and  striking  feature  of  the  Canadian  population; 
next,  perhaps,  would  appear  a  figure  widely  different. 
The  close,  black  cassock,  the  rosary  hanging  from 
the  waist,  and  the  wide,  black  hat,  looped  up  at  the 
sides,  proclaimed  the  Jesuit,  —  Father  Le  Jeune, 
Superior  of  the  Residence  of  Quebec. 

And  now,  that  we  may  better  know  the  aspect 
and  condition  of  the  infant  colony  and  incipient 
mission,  we  will  follow  the  priest  on  his  way. 
Mounting  the  steep  path,  he  reached  the  top  of  the 
cliff,  some  two  hundred  feet  above  the  river  and 
the  warehouses.  On  the  left  lay  the  fort  built  by 
Champlain,  covering  a  part  of  the  ground  now  form- 
ing Durham  Terrace  and  the  Place  d'Armes.  Its 
ramparts  were  of  logs  and  earth,  and  within  was  a 
turreted  building  of  stone,  used  as  a  barrack,  as 
officers'  quarters,  and  for  other  purposes.1  Near  the 
fort  stood  a  small  chapel,  newly  built.  The  sur- 
rounding country  was  cleared  and  partially  culti- 

1  Compare  the  various  notices  in  Champlain  (1632)  with  that  of 
Du  Creux,  Histaria  Canadensis,  204. 


90  NOTRE-DAME  DES  ANGES.  [1634. 

vated ;  yet  only  one  dwelling-house  worthy  the  name 
appeared.  It  was  a  substantial  cottage,  where  lived 
Madame  Hubert,  widow  of  the  first  settler  of  Canada, 
with  her  daughter,  her  son-in-law  Couillard,  and 
their  children,  —  good  Catholics  all,  who,  two  years 
before,  when  Quebec  was  evacuated  by  the  English,1 
wept  for  joy  at  beholding  Le  Jeune,  and  his  brother 
Jesuit  De  Noue,  crossing  their  threshold  to  offer 
beneath  their  roof  the  long-forbidden  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass.  There  were  enclosures  with  cattle  near  at 
hand ;  and  the  house,  with  its  surroundings,  betokened 
industry  and  thrift. 

Thence  Le  Jeune  walked  on,  across  the  site  of  the 
modern  market-place,  and  still  onward,  near  the  line 
of  the  cliffs  which  sank  abruptly  on  his  right. 
Beneath  lay  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Charles;  and, 
beyond,  the  wilderness  shore  of  Beauport  swept  in  a 
wide  curve  eastward,  to  where,  far  in  the  distance, 
the  Gulf  of  Montmorenci  yawned  on  the  great  river.2 
The  priest  soon  passed  the  clearings,  and  entered 
the  woods  which  covered  the  site  of  the  present 
suburb  of  St.  John.  Thence  he  descended  to  a  lower 
plateau,  where  now  lies  the  suburb  of  St.  Roch, 
and,  still  advancing,  reached  a  pleasant  spot  at  the 

1  See  "  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  "World."    Hebert's  cottage 
seems  to  have  stood  between  Ste.-Famille  and  Couillard  Streets,  as 
appears  by  a  contract  of  1634,  cited  by  M.  Ferland. 

2  The  settlement  of  Beauport  was  begun  this  year,  or  the  year 
following,  by  the  Sieur  Giffard,  to  whom  a  large  tract  had  been 
granted  here.    Langevin,  Notes  sur  les  Archives  de  N.  D.  de  Beau- 
port,  5. 


1634.]  THE  MISSION-HOUSE.  91 

extremity  of  the  Pointe-aux-Lie'vres,  a  tract  of 
meadow  land  nearly  enclosed  by  a  sudden  bend  of 
the  St.  Charles.  Here  lay  a  canoe  or  skiff;  and, 
paddling  across  the  narrow  stream,  Le  Jeune  saw  on 
the  meadow,  two  hundred  yards  from  the  bank,  a 
square  enclosure  formed  of  palisades,  like  a  modern 
picket  fort  of  the  Indian  frontier.1  Within  this 
enclosure  were  two  buildings,  one  of  which  had  been 
half  burned  by  the  English,  and  was  not  yet  repaired. 
It  served  as  storehouse,  stable,  workshop,  and  bakery. 
Opposite  stood  the  principal  building,  a  structure  of 
planks,  plastered  with  mud,  and  thatched  with  long 
grass  from  the  meadows.  It  consisted  of  one  story, 
a  garret,  and  a  cellar,  and  contained  four  principal 
rooms,  of  which  one  served  as  chapel,  another  as 
refectory,  another  as  kitchen,  and  the  fourth  as  a 
lodging  for  workmen.  The  furniture  of  all  was 
plain  in  the  extreme.  Until  the  preceding  year,  the 
chapel  had  had  no  other  ornament  than  a  sheet  on 
which  were  glued  two  coarse  engravings;  but  the 
priests  had  now  decorated  their  altar  with  an  image 
of  a  dove  representing  the  Holy  Ghost,  an  image  of 

i  This  must  have  been  very  near  the  point  where  the  streamlet 
called  the  river  Lairet  enters  the  St.  Charles.  The  place  has  a 
triple  historic  interest.  The  wintering-place  of  Cartier  in  1535-36 
(see  "  Pioneers  of  France  ")  seems  to  have  been  here.  Here,  too,  in 
1759,  Montcalm's  bridge  of  boats  crossed  the  St.  Charles ;  and  in  a 
large  intrenchment,  which  probably  included  the  site  of  the  Jesuit 
mission-house,  the  remnants  of  his  shattered  army  rallied,  after 
their  defeat  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  See  the  very  curious  Nar- 
rative of  the  Chevalier  Johnstone,  published  by  the  Historical  Society 
of  Quebec. 


92  NOTKE-DAME  DES  ANGES.  [1634. 

Loyola,  another  of  Xavier,  and  three  images  of  the 
Virgin.  Four  cells  opened  from  the  refectory,  the 
largest  of  which  was  eight  feet  square.  In  these 
lodged  six  priests,  while  two  lay  brothers  found 
shelter  in  the  garret.  The  house  had  been  hastily 
built,  eight  years  before,  and  now  leaked  in  all  parts. 
Such  was  the  Residence  of  Notre-Dame  des  Anges. 
Here  was  nourished  the  germ  of  a  vast  enterprise, 
and  this  was  the  cradle  of  the  great  mission  of  New 
France.1 

Of  the  six  Jesuits  gathered  in  the  refectory  for  the 
evening  meal,  one  was  conspicuous  among  the  rest, 
—  a  tall,  strong  man,  with  features  that  seemed 
carved  by  Nature  for  a  soldier,  but  which  the  mental 
habits  of  years  had  stamped  with  the  visible  impress 
of  the  priesthood.  This  was  Jean  de  Bre'beuf, 
descendant  of  a  noble  family  of  Normandy,  and  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  devoted  zealots  whose  names 
stand  on  the  missionary  rolls  of  his  Order.  His  com- 
panions were  Masse,  Daniel,  Davost,  De  Noue, 
and  the  Father  Superior,  Le  Jeune.  Masse  was  the 
same  priest  who  had  been  the  companion  of  Father 
Biard  in  the  abortive  mission  of  Acadia.2  By  reason 

1  The  above  particulars  are  gathered  from  the  Relations  of  1626 
(Lalemant),  and  1632,  1633,  1634,  1635  (Le  Jeune),  but  chiefly  from 
a  long  letter  of  the  Father  Superior  to  the  Provincial  of  the  Jesuits 
at  Paris,  containing  a  curiously  minute  report  of  the  state  of  the 
mission.     It  was  sent  from  Quebec  by  the  returning  ships  in  the 
summer  of  1634,  and  will  be  found  in  Carayon,  Premiere  Mission  des 
Jesuites  au  Canada,  122.    The   original  is  in  the  archives   of  the 
Order  at  Rome. 

2  See  "  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World." 


1634.]  THE  JESUITS.  93 

of  his  useful  qualities,  Le  Jeune  nicknamed  him  "  le 
Pe"re  Utile."  At  present,  his  special  function  was 
the  care  of  the  pigs  and  cows,  which  he  kept  in  the 
enclosure  around  the  buildings,  lest  they  should 
ravage  the  neighboring  fields  of  rye,  barley,  wheat, 
and  maize.1  De  None  had  charge  of  the  eight  or  ten 
workmen  employed  by  the  mission,  who  gave  him 
at  times  no  little  trouble  by  their  repinings  and  com- 
plaints.2 They  were  forced  to  hear  mass  every  morn- 
ing and  prayers  every  evening,  besides  an  exhortation 
on  Sunday.  Some  of  them  were  for  returning  home, 
while  two  or  three,  of  a  different  complexion,  wished 
to  be  Jesuits  themselves.  The  Fathers,  in  their 
intervals  of  leisure,  worked  with  their  men,  spade  in 
hand.  For  the  rest,  they  were  busied  in  preaching, 
singing  vespers,  saying  mass  and  hearing  confessions 
at  the  fort  of  Quebec,  catechising  a  few  Indians,  and 
striving  to  master  the  enormous  difficulties  of  the 
Huron  and  Algonquin  languages. 

Well  might  Father  Le  Jeune  write  to  his  Superior, 
"The  harvest  is  plentiful,  and  the  laborers  few." 
These  men  aimed  at  the  conversion  of  a  continent. 

1  "  Le  P.  Masse,  que  je  nomme  quelquefois  en  riant  le  Pere  Utile, 
est  bien  cognu  de  V.  R.    II  a  soin  des  choses  domestiques  et  du 
bestail  que  nous  avons,  en  quoy  il  a  tres-bien  reussy."  —  Lettre  du 
P.  Paul  le  Jeune  au  R.  P.  Provincial,  in  Carayon,  122.     Le  Jeune 
does  not  fail  to  send  an  inventory  of  the  "  bestail "  to  his  Superior, 
namely :  "  Deux  grosses  truies  qui  nourissent  chacune  quatre  petits 
cochons,  deux  vaches,  deux  petites  genisses,  et  un  petit  taureau." 

2  The  methodical  Le  Jeune  sets  down  the  causes  of  their  discon- 
tent under  six  different  heads,  each  duly  numbered.     Thus  :  — 

"  1°.  C'est  le  naturel  des  artisans  de  se  plaindre  et  de  gronder." 
"  2°.  La  diversite  des  gages  les  fait  murmurer,"  etc. 


94  NOTRE-DAME  DBS  ANGES.  [1634. 

From  their  hovel  on  the  St.  Charles,  they  surveyed  a 
field  of  labor  whose  vastness  might  tire  the  wings  of 
thought  itself,  —  a  scene  repellent  and  appalling, 
darkened  with  omens  of  peril  and  woe.  They  were 
an  advance-guard  of  the  great  army  of  Loyola,  strong 
in  a  discipline  that  controlled  not  alone  the  body  and 
the  will,  but  the  intellect,  the  heart,  the  soul,  and 
the  inmost  consciousness.  The  lives  of  these  early 
Canadian  Jesuits  attest  the  earnestness  of  their  faith 
and  the  intensity  of  their  zeal;  but  it  was  a  zeal 
bridled,  curbed,  and  ruled  by  a  guiding  hand.  Their 
marvellous  training  in  equal  measure  kindled  enthu- 
siasm and  controlled  it,  roused  into  action  a  mighty 
power,  and  made  it  as  subservient  as  those  great 
material  forces  which  modern  science  has  learned  to 
awaken  and  to  govern.  They  were  drilled  to  a  fac- 
titious humility,  prone  to  find  utterance  in  expressions 
of  self-depreciation  and  self-scorn,  which  one  may 
often  judge  unwisely,  when  he  condemns  them  as 
insincere.  They  were  devoted  believers,  not  only  in 
the  fundamental  dogmas  of  Rome,  but  in  those  lesser 
matters  of  faith  which  heresy  despises  as  idle*  and 
puerile  superstitions.  One  great  aim  engrossed  their 
lives.  "  For  the  greater  glory  of  God  "  —  ad  majorem 
Dei  gloriam  —  they  would  act  or  wait,  dare,  suffer, 
or  die,  yet  all  in  unquestioning  subjection  to  the 
authority  of  the  Superiors,  in  whom  they  recognized 
the  agents  of  Divine  authority  itself. 


CHAPTER  II. 

LOYOLA  AND  THE  JESUITS. 

CONVERSION  OF  LOYOLA.  —  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OP 
JESUS.  —  PREPARATION  OF  THE  NOVICE.  —  CHARACTERISTICS  OF 
THE  ORDER.  —  THE  CANADIAN  JESUITS. 

IT  was  an  evil  day  for  new-born  Protestantism 
when  a  French  artilleryman  fired  the  shot  that  struck 
down  Ignatius  Loyola  in  the  breach  of  Pampeluna. 
A  proud  noble,  an  aspiring  soldier,  a  graceful 
courtier,  an  ardent  and  daring  gallant  was  meta- 
morphosed by  that  stroke  into  the  zealot  whose  brain 
engendered  and  brought  forth  the  mighty  Society  of 
Jesus.  His  story  is  a  familiar  one,  —  how,  in  the 
solitude  of  his  sick-room,  a  change  came  over  him, 
upheaving,  like  an  earthquake,  all  the  forces  of  his 
nature ;  how,  in  the  cave  of  Manresa,  the  mysteries 
of  Heaven  were  revealed  to  him ;  how  he  passed  from 
agonies  to  transports,  from  transports  to  the  calm  of 
a  determined  purpose.  The  soldier  gave  himself  to 
a  new  warfare.  In  the  forge  of  his  great  intellect, 
heated,  but  not  disturbed  by  the  intense  fires  of  his 
zeal,  was  wrought  the  prodigious  enginery  whose 
power  has  been  felt  to  the  uttermost  confines  of  the 
world. 


96  LOYOLA  AND  THE  JESUITS. 

Loyola's  training  had  been  in  courts  and  camps; 
of  books  he  knew  little  or  nothing.  He  had  lived  in 
the  unquestioning  faith  of  one  born  and  bred  in  the 
very  focus  of  Romanism;  and  thus,  at  the  age  of 
about  thirty,  his  conversion  found  him.  It  was  a 
change  of  life  and  purpose,  not  of  belief.  He  pre- 
sumed not  to  inquire  into  the  doctrines  of  the  Church. 
It  was  for  him  to  enforce  those  doctrines ;  and  to  this 
end  he  turned  all  the  faculties  of  his  potent  intellect, 
and  all  his  deep  knowledge  of  mankind.  He  did  not 
aim  to  build  up  barren  communities  of  secluded 
monks,  aspiring  to  heaven  through  prayer,  penance, 
and  meditation,  but  to  subdue  the  world  to  the 
dominion  of  the  dogmas  which  had  subdued  him ;  to 
organize  and  discipline  a  mighty  host,  controlled  by 
one  purpose  and  one  mind,  fired  by  a  quenchless  zeal 
or  nerved  by  a  fixed  resolve,  yet  impelled,  restrained, 
and  directed  by  a  single  maste/  hand.  The  Jesuit  is 
no  dreamer:  he  is  emphatically  a  man  of  action; 
action  is  the  end  of  his  existence.  * 

It  was  an  arduous  problem  which  Loyola  under- 
took to  solve,  —  to  rob  a  man  of  volition,  yet  to  pre- 
serve in  him,  nay,  to  stimulate,  those  energies  which 
would  make  him  the  most  efficient  instrument  of  a 
great  design.  To  this  end  the  Jesuit  novitiate  and 
the  constitutions  of  the  Order  are  directed.  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  novice  is  urged  to  its  intensest 
pitch ;  then,  in  the  name  of  religion,  he  is  summoned 
to  the  utter  abnegation  of  intellect  and  will  in  favor 
of  the  Superior,  in  whom  he  is  commanded  to  recog- 


LOYOLA'S  SPIRITUAL  EXERCISES.  97 

nize  the  representative  of  God  on  earth.  Thus  the 
young  zealot  makes  no  slavish  sacrifice  of  intellect 
and  will,  —  at  least,  so  he  is  taught,  —  for  he  sacri- 
fices them,  not  to  man,  but  to  his  Maker.  No  limit 
is  set  to  his  submission:  if  the  Superior  pronounces 
black  to  be  white,  he  is  bound  in  conscience  to 
acquiesce.1 

Loyola's  book  of  Spiritual  Exercises  is  well  known. 
In  these  exercises  lies  the  hard  and  narrow  path 
which  is  the  only  entrance  to  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
The  book  is,  to  all  appearance,  a  dry  and  supersti- 
tious formulary ;  but  in  the  hands  of  a  skilful  director 
of  consciences  it  has  proved  of  terrible  efficacy.  The 
novice,  in  solitude  and  darkness,  day  after  day  and 
night  after  night,  ponders  its  images  of  perdition  and 
despair.  He  is  taught  to  hear  in  imagination  the 
bowlings  of  the  damned,  to  see  their  convulsive 
agonies,  to  feel  the  flames  that  burn  without  consum- 
ing, to  smell  the  corruption  of  the  tomb  and  the 
fumes  of  the  infernal  pit.  He  must  picture  to  him- 
self an  array  of  adverse  armies,  —  one  commanded  by 
Satan  on  the  plains  of  Babylon,  one  encamped  under 
Christ  about  the  walls  of  Jerusalem;  and  the  per- 
turbed mind,  humbled  by  long  contemplation  of  its 
own  vileness,  is  ordered  to  enroll  itself  under  one  or 
the  other  banner.  Then,  the  choice  made,  it  is  led 
to  a  region  of  serenity  and  celestial  peace,  and  soothed 

1  Those  who  wish  to  know  the  nature  of  the  Jesuit  virtue  of 
obedience  will  find  it  set  forth  in  the  famous  Letter  on  Obedience  of 
Loyola. 

VOL.  i.  —  7 


98  LOYOLA  AND  THE  JESUITS. 

with  images  of  divine  benignity  and  grace.  These 
meditations  last,  without  intermission,  about  a  month ; 
and,  under  an  astute  and  experienced  directorship, 
they  have  been  found  of  such  power  that  the  Manual 
of  Spiritual  Exercises  boasts  to  have  saved  souls  more 
in  number  than  the  letters  it  contains. 

To  this  succeed  two  years  of  discipline  and  prepa- 
ration, directed,  above  all  things  else,  to  perfecting 
the  virtues  of  humility  and  obedience.  The  novice 
is  obliged  to  perform  the  lowest  menial  offices  and 
the  most  repulsive  duties  of  the  sick-room  and  the 
hospital ;  and  he  is  sent  forth,  for  weeks  together,  to 
beg  his  bread  like  a  common  mendicant.  He  is 
required  to  reveal  to  his  confessor  not  only  his 
sins,  but  all  those  hidden  tendencies,  instincts,,  and 
impulses  which  form  the  distinctive  traits  of  charac- 
ter. He  is  set  to  watch  his  comrades,  and  h^s  com- 
rades are  set  to  watch  him.  Each  must  report  what 
he  observes  of  the  acts  and  dispositions  of  the  others ; 
and  this  mutual  espionage  does  not  end  with  the 
novitiate,  but  extends  to  the  close  of  life.  The  char- 
acteristics of  eveiy  member  of  the  Order  are  minutely 
analyzed,  and  methodically  put  on  record. 

This  horrible  violence  to  the  noblest  qualities  of 
manhood,  joined  to  that  equivocal  system  of  morality 
which  eminent  casuists  of  the  Order  have  inculcated, 
must,  it  may  be  thought,  produce  deplorable  effects 
upon  the  characters  of  those  under  its  influence. 
Whether  this  has  been  actually  the  case,  the  reader 
of  history  may  determine.  It  is  certain,  however, 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS.  99 

that  the  Society  of  Jesus  has  numbered  among  its 
members  men  whose  fervent  and  exalted  natures 
have  been  intensified,  without  being  abased,  by  the 
pressure  to  which  they  have  been  subjected. 

It  is  not  for  nothing  that  the  Society  studies  the 
character  of  its  members  so  intently,  and  by  methods 
so  startling.  It  not  only  uses  its  knowledge  to  thrust 
into  obscurity  or  cast  out  altogether  those  whom  it 
discovers  to  be  dull,  feeble,  or  unwilling  instruments 
of  its  purposes,  but  it  assigns  to  every  one  the  task  to 
which  his  talents  or  his  disposition  may  best  adapt 
him :  to  one,  the  care  of  a  royal  conscience,  whereby, 
unseen,  his  whispered  word  may  guide  the  destiny  of 
nations;  to  another,  the  instruction  of  children;  to 
another,  a  career  of  letters  or  science;  and  to  the 
fervent  and  the  self-sacrificing,  sometimes  also  to 
the  restless  and  uncompliant,  the  distant  missions  to 
the  heathen. 

The  Jesuit  was,  and  is,  everywhere,  —  in  the 
school-room,  in  the  library,  in  the  cabinets  of  princes 
and  ministers,  in  the  huts  of  savages,  in  the  tropics, 
in  the  frozen  North,  in  India,  in  China,  in  Japan,  in 
Africa,  in  America ;  now  as  a  Christian  priest,  now 
as  a  soldier,  a  mathematician,  an  astrologer,  a 
Brahmin,  a  mandarin,  —  under  countless  disguises, 
by  a  thousand  arts,  luring,  persuading,  or  compelling 
souls  into  the  fold  of  Rome. 

Of  this  vast  mechanism  for  guiding  and  governing 
the  minds  of  men,  this  mighty  enginery  for  subduing 
the  earth  to  the  dominion  of  an  idea,  this  harmony  of 


100  LOYOLA  AND  THE  JESUITS. 

contradictions,  this  moral  Proteus,  the  faintest  sketch 
must  now  suffice.  A  disquisition  on  the  Society  of 
Jesus  would  be  without  end.  No  religious  Order 
has  ever  united  in  itself  so  much  to  be  admired  and 
so  much  to  be  detested.  Unmixed  praise  has  been 
poured  on  its  Canadian  members.  It  is  not  for  me 
to  eulogize  them,  but  to  portray  them  as  they  were. 


CHAPTER  m. 

1632,  1633. 
PAUL  LE  JEUNE. 

LE  JEUNE'S  VOYAGE  :  HIS  FIRST  PUPILS  ;  HIS  STUDIES  ;  HIS  INDIAN 
TEACHER. —  WINTER  AT  THE  MISSION-HOUSE.  —  LE  JEUNE'S 
SCHOOL.  —  REINFORCEMENTS. 

IN  another  narrative,  we  have  seen  how  the  Jesuits, 
supplanting  the  Re'collet  friars,  their  predecessors, 
had  adopted  as  their  own  the  rugged  task  of  Chris- 
tianizing New  France.  We  have  seen,  too,  how  a 
descent  of  the  English,  or  rather  of  Huguenots  fight- 
ing under  English  colors,  had  overthrown  for  a  time 
the  miserable  little  colony,  with  the  mission  to  which 
it  was  wedded;  and  how  Quebec  was  at  length 
restored  to  France,  and  the  broken  thread  of  the 
Jesuit  enterprise  resumed.1 

It  was  then  that  Le  Jeune  had  embarked  for  the 
New  World.  He  was  in  his  convent  at  Dieppe  when 
he  received  the  order  to  depart;  and  he  set  forth  in 
haste  for  Havre,  filled,  he  assures  us,  with  inexpres- 
sible joy  at  the  prospect  of  a  living  or  a  dying 
martyrdom.  At  Rouen  he  was  joined  by  De  Noue, 
with  a  lay  brother  named  Gilbert;  and  the  three 

1  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World. 


102  PAUL  LE  JEUNE.  [1632. 

sailed  together  on  the  eighteenth  of  April,  1632. 
The  sea  treated  them  roughly ;  Le  Jeune  was  wretch- 
edly sea-sick;  and  the  ship  nearly  foundered  in  a 
gale.  At  length  they  came  in  sight  of  "  that  miser- 
able country,"  as  the  missionary  calls  the  scene  of 
his  future  labors.  It  was  in  the  harbor  of  Tadoussac 
that  he  first  encountered  the  objects  of  his  apostolic 
cares;  for,  as  he  sat  in  the  ship's  cabin  with  the 
master,  it  was  suddenly  invaded  by  ten  or  twelve 
Indians,  whom  he  compares  to  a  party  of  maskers  at 
the  Carnival.  Some  had  their  cheeks  painted  black, 
their  noses  blue,  and  the  rest  of  their  faces  red. 
Others  were  decorated  with  a  broad  band  of  black 
across  the  eyes;  and  others,  again,  with  diverging 
rays  of  black,  red,  and  blue  on  both  cheeks.  Their 
attire  was  no  less  uncouth.  Some  of  them  wore 
shaggy  bear-skins,  reminding  the  priest  of  the 
pictures  of  St.  John  the  Baptist. 

After  a  vain  attempt  to  save  a  number  of  Iroquois 
prisoners  whom  they  were  preparing  to  bum  alive  on 
shore,  Le  Jeune  and  his  companions  again  set  sail, 
and  reached  Quebec  on  the  fifth  of  July.  Having 
said  mass,  as  already  mentioned,  under  the  roof  of 
Madame  Hubert  and  her  delighted  family,  the  Jesuits 
made  their  way  to  the  two  hovels  built  by  their  pre- 
decessors on  the  St.  Charles,  which  had  suffered  woful 
dilapidation  at  the  hands  of  the  English.  Plere  they 
made  their  abode,  and  applied  themselves,  with  such 
skill  as  they  could  command,  to  repair  the  shattered 
tenements  and  cultivate  the  waste  meadows  around. 


1632.]  MISSIONARY  LABORS.  103 

The  beginning  of  Le  Jeune's  missionary  labors  was 
neither  imposing  nor  promising.  He  describes  him- 
self seated  with  a  small  Indian  boy  on  one  side  and 
a  small  negro  on  the  other,  the  latter  of  whom  had 
been  left  by  the  English  as  a  gift  to  Madame  Hubert. 
As  neither  of  the  three  understood  the  language  of 
the  others,  the  pupils  made  little  progress  in  spiritual 
knowledge.  The  missionaries,  it  was  clear,  must 
learn  Algonquin  at  any  cost;  and,  to  this  end,  Le 
Jeune  resolved  to  visit  the  Indian  encampments. 
Hearing  that  a  band  of  Montagnais  were  fishing  for 
eels  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  between  Cape  Diamond 
and  the  cove  which  now  bears  the  name  of  Wolfe,  he 
set  forth  for  the  spot  on  a  morning  in  October.  As, 
with  toil  and  trepidation,  he  scrambled  around  the 
foot  of  the  cape,  —  whose  precipices,  with  a  chaos  of 
loose  rocks,  thrust  themselves  at  that  day  into  the 
deep  tide-water,  —  he  dragged  down  upon  himself 
the  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree,  which,  in  its  descent,  well- 
nigh  swept  him  into  the  river.  The  peril  past,  he 
presently  reached  his  destination.  Here,  among  the 
lodges  of  bark,  were  stretched  innumerable  strings  of 
hide,  from  which  hung  to  dry  an  incredible  multitude 
of  eels.  A  boy  invited  him  into  the  lodge  of  a 
withered  squaw,  his  grandmother,  who  hastened  to 
offer  him  four  smoked  eels  on  a  piece  of  birch-bark, 
while  other  squaws  of  the  household  instructed  him 
how  to  roast  them  on  a  forked  stick  over  the  embers. 
All  shared  the  feast  together,  his  entertainers  using  as 
napkins  their  own  hair  or  that  of  their  dogs ;  while 


104  PAUL  LE  JEUNE.  [1632. 

Le  Jeune,  intent  on  increasing  his  knowledge  of 
Algonquin,  maintained  an  active  discourse  of  broken 
words  and  pantomime.1 

The  lesson,  however,  was  too  laborious  and  of  too 
little  profit  to  be  often  repeated,  and  the  missionary 
sought  anxiously  for  more  stable  instruction.  To 
find  such  was  not  easy.  The  interpreters  —  French- 
men, who,  in  the  interest  of  the  fur  company,  had 
spent  years  among  the  Indians  —  were  averse  to 
Jesuits,  and  refused  their  aid.  There  was  one 
resource,  however,  of  which  Le  Jeune  would  fain 
avail  himself.  An  Indian,  called  Pierre  by  the 
French,  had  been  carried  to  France  by  the  B,e"collet 
friars,  instructed,  converted,  and  baptized.  He  had 
lately  returned  to  Canada,  where,  to  the  scandal  of 
the  Jesuits,  he  had  relapsed  into  his  old  ways,  retain- 
ing of  his  French  education  little  besides  a  few  new 
vices.  He  still  haunted  the  fort  at  Quebec,  lured  by 
the  hope  of  an  occasional  gift  of  wine  or  tobacco,  but 
shunned  the  Jesuits,  of  whose  rigid  way  of  life  he 
stood  in  horror.  As  he  spoke  good  French  and  good 
Indian,  he  would  have  been  invaluable  to  the  embar- 
rassed priests  at  the  mission.  Le  Jeune  invoked  the 
aid  of  the  Saints.  The  effect  of  his  prayers  soon 
appeared,  he  tells  us,  in  a  direct  interposition  of 
Providence,  which  so  disposed  the  heart  of  Pierre 
that  he  quarrelled  with  the  French  commandant,  who 
thereupon  closed  the  fort  against  him.  He  then 
repaired  to  his  friends  and  relatives  in  the  woods,  but 

i  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  2. 


1632-33.]     WINTER  AT  THE  MISSION-HOUSE.      105 

only  to  encounter  a  rebuff  from  a  young  squaw  to 
whom  he  made  his  addresses.  On  this,  he  turned 
his  steps  towards  the  mission-house,  and,  being 
unfitted  by  his  French  education  for  supporting  him- 
self by  hunting,  begged  food  and  shelter  from  the 
priests.  Le  Jeune  gratefully  accepted  him  as  a  gift 
vouchsafed  by  Heaven  to  his  prayers,  persuaded  a 
lackey  at  the  fort  to  give  him  a  cast-off  suit  of  clothes, 
promised  him  maintenance,  and  installed  him  as  his 
teacher. 

Seated  on  wooden  stools  by  the  rough  table  in  the 
refectory,  the  priest  and  the  Indian  pursued  their 
studies.  "How  thankful  I  am,"  writes  Le  Jeune, 
"to  those  who  gave  me  tobacco  last  year!  At  every 
difficulty  I  give  my  master  a  piece  of  it,  to  make  him 
more  attentive."1 

Meanwhile,  winter  closed  in  with  a  severity  rare 
even  in  Canada.  The  St.  Lawrence  and  the  St. 
Charles  were  hard  frozen;  rivers,  forests,  and  rocks 
were  mantled  alike  in  dazzling  sheets  of  snow.  The 
humble  mission-house  of  Notre-Dame  des  Anges  was 
half  buried  in  the  drifts,  which,  heaped  up  in  front 
where  a  path  had  been  dug  through  them,  rose  two 
feet  above  the  low  eaves.  The  priests,  sitting  at 
night  before  the  blazing  logs  of  their  wide-throated 
chimney,  heard  the  trees  in  the  neighboring  forest 
cracking  with  frost,  with  a  sound  like  the  report  of  a 

1  Relation,  1633,  7.  He  continues:  "le  ne  S9aurois  assez  rendre 
graces  a  Nostre  Seigneur  de  cet  heureux  rencontre.  .  .  .  Que  Dieu 
soit  beny  pour  vn  iamais,  sa  prouidence  est  adorable,  et  sa  bont<5 
n'a  point  de  limites." 


106  PAUL  LE  JEUNE.  [1633. 

pistol.  Le  Jeune's  ink  froze,  and  his  fingers  were 
benumbed,  as  he  toiled  at  his  declensions  and  conju- 
gations, or  translated  the  Pater  Noster  into  blunder- 
ing Algonquin.  The  water  in  the  cask  beside  the 
fire  froze  nightly,  and  the  ice  was  broken  every  morn- 
ing with  hatchets.  The  blankets  of  the  two  priests 
were  fringed  with  the  icicles  of  their  congealed 
breath,  and  the  frost  lay  in  a  thick  coating  on  the 
lozenge-shaped  glass  of  their  cells.1 

By  day,  Le  Jeune  and  his  companion  practised 
with  snow-shoes,  with  all  the  mishaps  which  attend 
beginners,  —  the  trippings,  the  falls,  and  headlong 
dives  into  the  soft  drifts,  —  amid  the  laughter  of  the 
Indians.  Their  seclusion  was  by  no  means  a  soli- 
tude. Bands  of  Montagnais,  with  their  sledges  and 
dogs,  often  passed  the  mission-house  on  their  way  to 
hunt  the  moose.  They  once  invited  De  Noue  to  go 
with  them ;  and  he,  scarcely  less  eager  than  Le  Jeune 
to  learn  their  language,  readily  consented.  In  two 
or  three  weeks  he  appeared,  sick,  famished,  and  half 
dead  with  exhaustion.  "Not  ten  priests  in  a  hun- 
dred," writes  Le  Jeune  to  his  Superior,  "could  bear 
this  winter  life  with  the  savages."  But  what  of 
that  ?  It  was  not  for  them  to  falter.  They  were  but 
instruments  in  the  hands  of  God,  to  be  used,  broken, 
and  thrown  aside,  if  such  should  be  His  will.2 

1  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633, 14,  15. 

2  "  Voila,  mon  Reuerend  Pere,  vn  eschantillon  de  ce  qu'il  faut 
souffrir  eourant  apres  les  Sauuages.  ...  II  faut  prendre  sa  vie,  et 
tout  ce  qu'on  a,  et  le  letter  a  1'abandon,  pour  ainsi  dire,  se  content- 
ant  d'vne  croix  bien  grosse  et  bien  pesante  pour  toute  richesse.    II 


1633.]  LE  JEUNE'S  SCHOOL.  107 

An  Indian  made  Le  Jeune  a  present  of  two  small 
children,  greatly  to  the  delight  of  the  missionary, 
who  at  once  set  himself  to  teaching  them  to  pray  in 
Latin.  As  the  season  grew  milder,  the  number  of 
his  scholars  increased;  for  when  parties  of  Indians 
encamped  in  the  neighborhood  he  would  take  his 
stand  at  the  door,  and,  like  Xavier  at  Goa,  ring  a 
bell.  At  this,  a  score  of  children  would  gather 
around  him ;  and  he,  leading  them  into  the  refectory, 
which  served  as  his  school-room,  taught  them  to 
repeat  after  him  the  Pater,  Ave,  and  Credo,  expounded 
the  mystery  of  the  Trinity,  showed  them  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  and  made  them  repeat  an  Indian  prayer, 
the  joint  composition  of  Pierre  and  himself;  then 
followed  the  catechism,  the  lesson  closing  with  sing- 
ing the  Pater  Noster,  translated  by  the  missionary 
into  Algonquin  rhymes;  and  when  all  was  over,  he 
rewarded  each  of  his  pupils  with  a  porringer  of  peas, 
to  insure  their  attendance  at  his  next  bell-ringing.1 

It  was  the  end  of  May,  when  the  priests  one  morn- 
ing heard  the  sound  of  cannon  from  the  fort,  and 


est  bien  vray  que  Dieu  ne  se  laisse  point  vaincre,  et  que  plus  on 
quitte,  plus  on  trouue  :  plus  on  perd,  plus  on  gaigne  :  mais  Dieu  se 
cache  par  fois,  et  alors  le  Calice  est  bien  amer."  —  Le  Jeune, 
Relation,  1633,  19. 

1  "  I'ay  commence  k  appeller  quelques  enf ans  auec  vne  petite 
clochette.  La  premiere  fois  i'en  auois  six,  puis  douze,  puis  quinze, 
puis  vingt  et  davantage ;  ie  leur  fais  dire  le  Pater,  Aue,  et  Credo, 
etc.  .  .  .  Nous  finissons  par  le  Pater  Noster,  que  i'ay  compose  quasi 
en  rimes  en  leur  langue,  que  ie  leur  fais  chanter :  et  pour  derniere 
conclusion,  ie  leur  fais  donner  chacun  vne  escuellee  de  pois,  qu'ils 
mangent  de  bon  appetit,"  etc.  —  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  23. 


108  PAUL  LE  JEUNE.  [1633. 

were  gladdened  by  the  tidings  that  Samuel  de 
Champlain  had  arrived  to  resume  command  at 
Quebec,  bringing  with  him  four  more  Jesuits,  — 
Brdbeuf,  Masse,  Daniel,  and  Davost.1  Bre'beuf, 
from  the  first,  turned  his  eyes  towards  the  distant 
land  of  the  Hurons,  —  a  field  of  labor  full  of  peril, 
but  rich  in  hope  and  promise.  Le  Jeune's  duties  as 
Superior  restrained  him  from  wanderings  so  remote. 
His  apostleship  must  be  limited,  for  a  time,  to  the 
vagabond  hordes  of  Algonquins,  who  roamed  the 
forests  of  the  lower  St.  Lawrence,  and  of  whose  lan- 
guage he  had  been  so  sedulous  a  student.  His  diffi- 
culties had  of  late  been  increased  by  the  absence  of 
Pierre,  who  had  run  off  as  Lent  drew  near,  standing 
in  dread  of  that  season  of  fasting.  Masse  brought 
tidings  of  him  from  Tadoussac,  whither  he  had  gone, 
and  where  a  party  of  English  had  given  him  liquor, 
destroying  the  last  trace  of  Le  Jeune's  late  exhorta- 
tions. "God  forgive  those,"  writes  the  Father, 
"who  introduced  heresy  into  this  country!  If  this 
savage,  corrupted  as  he  is  by  these  miserable  heretics, 
had  any  wit,  he  would  be  a  great  hindrance  to  the 
spread  of  the  Faith.  It  is  plain  that  he  was  given 
us,  not  for  the  good  of  his  soul,  but  only  that 
we  might  extract  from  him  the  principles  of  his 
language."2 

Pierre  had  two  brothers.     One,  well  known  as  a 
hunter,    was   named  Mestigoit;    the  other  was   the 

1  See  "Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World." 

2  Relation,  1633,  29. 


1633.]  THE  WINTER  HUNT.  109 

most  noted  "medicine-man,"  or,  as  the  Jesuits  called 
him,  sorcerer,  in  the  tribe  of  the  Montagnais.  Like 
the  rest  of  their  people,  they  were  accustomed  to  set 
out  for  their  winter  hunt  in  the  autumn,  after  the 
close  of  their  eel-fishery.  Le  Jeune,  despite  the 
experience  of  De  Noue,  had  long  had  a  mind  to 
accompany  one  of  these  roving  bands,  partly  in  the 
hope  that  in  some  hour  of  distress  he  might  touch 
their  hearts,  or,  by  a  timely  drop  of  baptismal  water, 
dismiss  some  dying  child  to  paradise,  but  chiefly 
with  the  object  of  mastering  their  language.  Pierre 
had  rejoined  his  brothers ;  and,  as  the  hunting  season 
drew  near,  they  all  begged  the  missionary  to  make 
one  of  their  party,  —  not,  as  he  thought,  out  of  any 
love  for  him,  but  solely  with  a  view  to  the  provis- 
ions with  which  they  doubted  not  he  would  be  well 
supplied.  Le  Jeune,  distrustful  of  the  sorcerer, 
demurred,  but  at  length  resolved  to  go. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

1633,  1634. 
LE  JETJNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS. 

LE  JEUNE  JOINS  THE  INDIANS.  —  THE  FIRST  ENCAMPMENT.  —  THE 
APOSTATE.  —  FOREST  LIFE  IN  WINTER.  —  THE  INDIAN  HUT. — 
THE  SORCERER  :  HIS  PERSECUTION  OF  THE  PRIEST.  —  EVIL  COM- 
PANY.—  MAGIC.  —  INCANTATIO.  s.  —  CHRISTMAS.  —  STARVATION. — 
HOPES  OF  CONVERSION.  —  BACKSLIDING.  —  PERIL  AND  ESCAPE 
OF  LE  JEUNE  :  HIS  RETURN. 

ON  a  morning  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  Le 
Jeune  embarked  with  the  Indians,  twenty  in  all, 
men,  women,  and  children.  No  other  Frenchman 
was  of  the  party.  Champlain  bade  him  an  anxious 
farewell,  and  commended  him  to  the  care  of  his  red 
associates,  who  had  taken  charge  of  his  store  of  bis- 
cuit, flour,  corn,  prunes,  and  turnips,  to  which,  in  an 
evil  hour,  his  friends  had  persuaded  him  to  add  a 
small  keg  of  wine.  The  canoes  glided  along  the 
wooded  shore  of  the  Island  of  Orleans,  and  the  party 
landed,  towards  evening,  on  the  small  island  imme- 
diately below.  Le  Jeune  was  delighted  with  the 
spot,  and  the  wild  beauties  of  the  autumnal  sunset. 

His  reflections,  however,  were  soon  interrupted. 
While  the  squaws  were  setting  up  their  bark  lodges, 
and  Mestigoit  was  shooting  wild-fowl  for  supper, 


1633.]  THE  APOSTATE.  Ill 

Pierre  returned  to  the  canoes,  tapped  the  keg  of 
wine,  and  soon  fell  into  the  mud,  helplessly  drunk. 
Revived  by  the  immersion,  he  next  appeared  at  the 
camp,  foaming  at  the  mouth,  threw  down  the  lodges, 
overset  the  kettle,  and  chased  the  shrieking  squaws 
into  the  woods.  His  brother  Mestigoit  rekindled  the 
fire,  and  slung  the  kettle  anew;  when  Pierre,  who 
meanwhile  had  been  raving  like  a  madman  along  the 
shore,  reeled  in  a  fury  to  the  spot  to  repeat  his  former 
exploit.  Mestigoit  anticipated  him,  snatched  the 
kettle  from  the  fire,  and  threw  the  scalding  contents 
in  his  face.  "  He  Avas  never  so  well  washed  before 
in  his  life,"  says  Le  Jeune;  "he  lost  all  the  skin  of 
his  face  and  breast.  Would  to  God  his  heart  had 
changed  also!"1  He  roared  in  his  frenzy  for  a 
hatchet  to  kill  the  missionary,  who  therefore  thought 
it  prudent  to  spend  the  night  in  the  neighboring 
woods.  Here  he  stretched  himself  on  the  earth, 
while  a  charitable  squaw  covered  him  with  a  sheet  of 
birch-bark.  "Though  my  bed,"  he  writes,  "had  not 
been  made  up  since  the  creation  of  the  world,  it  was 
not  hard  enough  to  prevent  me  from  sleeping." 

Sucli  was  his  initiation  into  Indian  winter  life. 
Passing  over  numerous  adventures  by  water  and 
land,  we  find  the  party,  on  the  twelfth  of  November, 
leaving  their  canoes  on  an  island,  and  wading  ashore 
at  low  tide  over  the  flats  to  the  southern  bank  of  the 

i  "  lamais  il  ne  f ut  si  bien  laue,  il  changea  de  peau  en  la  face  et 
en  tout  1'estomach :  pleust  a  Dieu  que  son  ame  eust  change^  aussi 
bien  que  son  corps  ! "  —  Relation,  1634,  59. 


112  LE  JEUNE  AND  THE   HUNTERS.         [1633. 

St.  Lawrence.  As  two  other  bands  had  joined  them, 
their  number  was  increased  to  forty-five  persons. 
Now,  leaving  the  river  behind,  they  entered  those 
savage  highlands  whence  issue  the  springs  of  the  St. 
John,  —  a  wilderness  of  rugged  mountain-ranges, 
clad  in  dense,  continuous  forests,  with  no  human 
tenant  but  this  troop  of  miserable  rovers,  and  here 
and  there  some  kindred  band,  as  miserable  as  they. 
Winter  had  set  in,  and  already  dead  Nature  was 
sheeted  in  funereal  white.  Lakes  and  ponds  were 
frozen,  r'^ulets  sealed  up,  torrents  encased  with 
stalactites  of  ice;  the  black  rocks  and  the  black 
trunks  of  the  pine-trees  were  beplastered  with  snow, 
and  its  heavy  masses  crushed  the  dull  green  boughs 
into  the  drifts  beneath.  The  forest  was  silent  as  the 
grave. 

Through  this  desolation  the  long  file  of  Indians 
made  its  way,  all  on  snow-shoes,  each  man,  woman, 
and  child  bending  under  a  heavy  load,  or  dragging 
a  sledge,  narrow,  but  of  prodigious  length.  They 
carried  their  whole  wealth  with  them,  on  their  backs 
or  on  their  sledges,  —  kettles,  axes,  bales  of  meat,  if 
such  they  had,  and  huge  rolls  of  birch-bark  for  cover- 
ing their  wigwams.  The  Jesuit  was  loaded  like  the 
rest.  The  dogs  alone  floundered  through  the  drifts 
unburdened.  There  was  neither  path  nor  level 
ground.  Descending,  climbing,  stooping  beneath 
half-fallen  trees,  clambering  over  piles  of  prostrate 
trunks,  struggling  through  matted  cedar-swamps, 
threading  chill  ravines,  and  crossing  streams  no 


1633.]  ALGONQUIN  WINTER   LIFE.  113 

longer  visible,  they  toiled  on  till  the  day  began  to 
decline,  then  stopped  to  encamp.1  Burdens  were 
thrown  down,  and  sledges  unladen.  The  squaws, 
with  knives  and  hatchets,  cut  long  poles  of  birch  and 
spruce  saplings ;  while  the  men,  with  snow-shoes  for 
shovels,  cleared  a  round  or  square  space  in  the  snow, 
which  formed  an  upright  wall  three  or  four  feet  high, 
enclosing  the  area  of  the  wigwam.  On  one  side,  a 
passage  was  cut  for  an  entrance,  and  the  poles  were 
planted  around  the  top  of  the  wall  of  snow,  sloping 
and  converging.  On  these  poles  were  spread  the 
sheets  of  birch-bark,  a  bear-skin  was  hung  in  the 
passage-way  for  a  door;  the  bare  ground  within  and 
the  surrounding  snow  were  covered  with  spruce 
boughs ;  and  the  work  was  done. 

This  usually  occupied  about  three  hours,  during 
which  Le  Jeune,  spent  with  travel,  and  weakened  by 
precarious  and  unaccustomed  fare,  had  the  choice  of 
shivering  in  idleness,  or  taking  part  in  a  labor  which 
fatigued,  without  warming,  his  exhausted  frame. 

1  "  S'il  arriuoit  quelque  degel,  6  Dieu  quelle  peine !  II  me  sem- 
bloit  que  ie  marchois  sur  vn  chemin  de  verre  qui  se  cassoit  a  tons 
coups  soubs  mes  pieds :  la  neige  congele'e  venant  a  s'amollir,  tom- 
boit  et  s'enfoncoit  par  esquarres  ou  grandes  pieces,  et  nous  en 
auions  bien  souuent  iusques  aux  genoux,  quelquefois  iusqu'a  la 
ceinture.  Que  s'il  y  auoit  de  la  peine  a  tomber,  il  y  en  auoit  encor 
plus  a  se  retirer :  car  nos  raquettes  se  chargeoient  de  neiges  et  se 
rendoient  si  pesantes,  que  quand  vous  veniez  a  les  retirer  il  vous 
sembloit  qu'on  vous  tiroit  les  iambes  pour  vous  de'membrer.  Fen 
ay  veu  qui  glissoient  tellement  soubs  des  souches  enseuelies  soubs  la 
neige,  qu-ils  ne  pouuoient  tirer  ny  iambes  ny  raquettes  sans  secours : 
or  figurez  vous  maintenant  vne  personne  chargee  comme  vn  mulet, 
et  iugez  si  la  vie  des  Sauuages  est  douce."  —  Relation,  1634,  67. 
VOL.  i.  —  8 


114  LE  JEUNE  AND   THE  HUNTERS.         [1633. 

The  sorcerer's  wife  was  in  far  worse  case.  Though 
in  the  extremity  of  a  mortal  sickness,  they  left  her 
lying  in  the  snow  till  the  wigwam  was  made,  —  with- 
out a  word,  on  her  part,  of  remonstrance  or  com- 
plaint. Le  Jeune,  to  the  great  ire  of  her  husband, 
sometimes  spent  the  interval  in  trying  to  convert 
her;  but  she  proved  intractable,  and  soon  died 
unbaptized. 

Thus  lodged,  they  remained  so  long  as  game  could 
be  found  within  a  circuit  of  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and 
then,  subsistence  failing,  removed  to  another  spot. 
Early  in  the  winter,  they  hunted  the  beaver  and 
the  Canada  porcupine;  and,  later,  in  the  season  of 
deep  snows,  chased  the  moose  and  the  caribou. 

Put  aside  the  bear-skin,  and  enter  the  hut.  Here, 
in  a  space  some  thirteen  feet  square,  were  packed 
nineteen  savages,  men,  women,  and  children,  with 
their  dogs,  crouched,  squatted,  coiled  like  hedge- 
hogs, or  lying  on  their  backs,  with  knees  drawn  up 
perpendicularly  to  keep  their  feet  out  of  the  fire.  Le 
Jeune,  always  methodical,  arranges  the  grievances 
inseparable  from  these  rough  quarters  under  four 
chief  heads,  —  Cold,  Heat,  Smoke,  and  Dogs.  The 
bark  covering  was  full  of  crevices,  through  which  the 
icy  blasts  streamed  in  upon  him  from  all  sides ;  and 
the  hole  above,  at  once  window  and  chimney,  was  so 
large,  that,  as  he  lay,  he  could  watch  the  stars  as 
well  as  in  the  open  air.  While  the  fire  in  the  midst, 
fed  with  fat  pine-knots,  scorched  him  on  one  side, 
on  the  other  he  had  much  ado  to  keep  himself  from 


1633-34.  J  THE  INDIAN  HUT.  115 

freezing.  At  times,  however,  the  crowded  hut 
seemed  heated  to  the  temperature  of  an  oven.  But 
these  evils  were  light,  when  compared  to  the  intoler- 
able plague  of  smoke.  During  a  snow-storm,  and 
often  at  other  times,  the  wigwam  was  filled  with 
fumes  so  dense,  stifling,  and  acrid,  that  all  its  inmates 
were  forced  to  lie  flat  on  their  faces,  breathing 
through  mouths  in  contact  with  the  cold  earth. 
Their  throats  and  nostrils  felt  as  if  on  fire;  their 
scorched  eyes  streamed  with  tears;  and  when  Le 
Jeune  tried  to  read,  the  letters  of  his  breviary  seemed 
printed  in  blood.  The  dogs  were  not  an  unmixed 
evil,  for,  by  sleeping  on  and  around  him,  they  kept 
him  warm  at  night;  but,  as  an  offset  to  this  good 
service,  they  walked,  ran,  and  jumped  over  him  as 
he  lay,  snatched  the  food  from  his  birchen  dish,  or, 
in  a  mad  rush  at  some  bone  or  discarded  morsel,  now 
and  then  overset  both  dish  and  missionary. 

Sometimes  of  an  evening  he  would  leave  the  filthy 
den,  to  read  his  breviary  in  peace  by  the  light  of  the 
moon.  In  the  forest  around  sounded  the  sharp  crack 
of  frost-riven  trees;  and  from  the  horizon  to  the 
zenith  shot  up  the  silent  meteors  of  the  northern 
lights,  in  whose  fitful  flashings  the  awe-struck 
Indians  beheld  the  dancing  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead. 
The  cold  gnawed  him  to  the  bone ;  and,  his  devotions 
over,  he  turned  back  shivering.  The  illumined  hut, 
from  many  a  chink  and  crevice,  shot  forth  into  the 
gloom  long  streams  of  light  athwart  the  twisted 
boughs.  He  stooped  and  entered.  All  within 


116     LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS.  [1633-34. 

glowed  red  and  fiery  around  the  blazing  pine-knots, 
where,  like  brutes  in  their  kennel,  were  gathered  the 
savage  crew.  He  stepped  to  his  place,  over  recum- 
bent bodies  and  leggined  and  moccasined  limbs,  and 
seated  himself  on  the  carpet  of  spruce  boughs.  Here 
a  tribulation  awaited  him,  the  crowning  misery  of 
his  winter-quarters,  —  worse,  as  he  declares,  than 
cold,  heat,  and  dogs. 

Of  the  three  brothers  who  had  invited  him  to  join 
the  party,  one,  we  have  seen,  was  the  hunter, 
Mestigoit;  another,  the  sorcerer;  and  the  third, 
Pierre,  whom,  by  reason  of  his  falling  away  from  the 
Faith,  Le  Jeune  always  mentions  as  the  Apostate. 
He  was  a  weak-minded  young  Indian,  wholly  under 
the  influence  of  his  brother  the  sorcerer,  who,  if  not 
more  vicious,  was  far  more  resolute  and  wily.  From 
the  antagonism  of  their  respective  professions,  the 
sorcerer  hated  the  priest,  who  lost  no  opportunity  of 
denouncing  his  incantations,  and  who  ridiculed  his 
perpetual  singing  and  drumming  as  puerility  and 
folly.  The  former,  being  an  indifferent  hunter,  and 
disabled  by  a  disease  which  he  had  contracted, 
depended  for  subsistence  on  his  credit  as  a  magician ; 
and  in  undermining  it  Le  Jeune  not  only  outraged 
his  pride,  but  threatened  his  daily  bread.1  He  used 

1  "le  ne  laissois  perdre  aucune  occasion  de  le  conuaincre  de 
niaiserie  et  de  puerilite,  mettant  au  iour  I'impertinence  de  ses  super- 
stitions :  or  c'estoit  luy  arracher  1'ame  du  corps  par  violence :  car 
comme  il  ne  S9auroit  plus  chasser,  il  fait  plus  que  iamais  du 
Prophete  et  du  Magicien  pour  conseruer  son  credit,  et  pour  auoir 
les  bons  morceaux ;  si  Men  qu'esbranlant  son  authorite"  qui  se  va 


1633-34.]    LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  SORCERER.  117 

every  device  to  retort  ridicule  upon  his  rival.  At  tlie 
outset,  he  had  proffered  his  aid  to  Le  Jeune  in  his 
study  of  the  Algonquin;  and,  like  the  Indian  prac- 
tical jokers  of  Acadia  in  the  case  of  Father  Biard,1 
palmed  off  upon  him  the  foulest  words  in  the  lan- 
guage as  the  equivalent  of  things  spiritual.  Thus  it 
happened,  that,  while  the  missionary  sought  to 
explain  to  the  assembled  wigwam  some  point  of 
Christian  doctrine,  he  was  interrupted  by  peals  of 
laughter  from  men,  children,  and  squaws.  And 
now,  as  Le  Jeune  took  his  place  in  the  circle,  the 
sorcerer  bent  upon  him  his  malignant  eyes,  and  began 
that  course  of  rude  bantering  which  filled  to  over- 
flowing the  cup  of  the  Jesuit's  woes.  All  took  their 
cue  from  him,  and  made  their  afflicted  guest  the  butt 
of  their  inane  witticisms.  "Look  at  him!  His  face 
is  like  a  dog's !  "  —  "  His  head  is  like  a  pumpkin !  "  — 
"  He  has  a  beard  like  a  rabbit's !  "  The  missionary 
bore  in  silence  these  and  countless  similar  attacks; 
indeed,  so  sorely  was  he  harassed,  that,  lest  he 
should  exasperate  his  tormentor,  he  sometimes  passed 
whole  days  without  uttering  a  word.2 

perdant  tons  les  iours,  ie  le  touchois  a  la  prunelle  de  1'ceil."  — 
Relation,  1634,  56. 

1  See  "Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,"  ii.  119. 

2  Relation,  1634,  207  (Cramoisy).    "  Us  me  chargeoient  incessa- 
ment  de  mille  brocards  &  de  mille  injures ;  je  me  suis  veu  en  tel 
estat,  que  pour  ne  les  aigrir,  je  passois  les  jours  entiers  sans  ouvrir 
la  bouche."    Here  follows  the  abuse,  in  the  original  Indian,  with 
French  translations.    Le  Jeune's  account  of  his  experience  is  singu- 
larly graphic.    The  following  is  his  summary  of  his  annoyances : 

"  Or  ce  miserable  homme  [the  sorcerer]  &  la  f  urn^e  m'ont  este"  les 


118  LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS.   [1633-34. 

Le  Jeune,  a  man  of  excellent  observation,  already 
knew  his  red  associates  well  enough  to  understand 
that  their  rudeness  did  not  of  necessity  imply  ill-will. 
The  rest  of  the  party,  in  their  turn,  fared  no  better. 
They  rallied  and  bantered  each  other  incessantly, 
with  as  little  forbearance  and  as  little  malice  as  a 
troop  of  unbridled  school-boys.1  No  one  took  offence. 
To  have  done  so  would  have  been  to  bring  upon  one's 
self  genuine  contumely.  This  motley  household  was 
a  model  of  harmony.  True,  they  showed  no  tender- 
ness or  consideration  towards  the  sick  and  disabled ; 
but  for  the  rest,  each  shared  with  all  in  weal  or  woe : 
the  famine  of  one  was  the  famine  of  the  whole,  and 
the  smallest  portion  of  food  was  distributed  in  fair  and 
equal  partition.  Upbraidings  and  complaints  were 
unheard;  they  bore  each  other's  foibles  with  won- 
drous equanimity;  and  while  persecuting  Le  Jeune 
with  constant  importunity  for  tobacco,  and  for 
everything  else  he  had,  they  never  begged  among 
themselves. 

deux  plus  grands  tourmens  que  i'aye  endure  parmy  ces  Barbares : 
ny  le  froid,  ny  le  chaud,  ny  1'incommodite  des  chiens,  ny  coucher  a 
1'air,  ny  dormir  sur  un  lict  de  terre,  ny  la  posture  qu'il  faut  tousiours 
tenir  dans  leurs  cabanes,  se  ramassans  en  peloton,  ou  se  couchans, 
ou  s'asseans  sans  siege  &  sans  mattelas,  ny  la  faim,  ny  la  soif,  ny  la 
pauurete'  &  salete  de  leur  boucan,  ny  la  maladie,  tout  cela  ne  m'a 
semble'  que  ieu  a  comparaison  de  la  f  umee  &  de  la  malice  du  Sor- 
cier."  —  Relation,  1634,  201  (Cramoisy). 

1  "Leur  vie  se  passe  a  manger,  a  rire,  et  a  railler  les  vns  des 
autres,  et  de  tous  les  peuples  qu'ils  cognoissent ;  ils  n'ont  rien  de 
serieux,  sinon  par  fois  1'exterieur,  faisans  parmy  nous  les  graues  et 
les  retenus,  mais  entr'eux  sont  de  vrais  badins,  de  vrais  enfans,  qui 
ne  demandent  qu'k  rire."  —  Relation,  1634,  30. 


1633-34.]          HIS  INDIAN  COMPANIONS.  119 

When  the  fire  burned  well  and  food  was  abundant, 
their  conversation,  such  as  it  was,  was  incessant. 
They  used  no  oaths,  for  their  language  supplied 
none,  —  doubtless  because  their  mythology  had  no 
beings  sufficiently  distinct  to  swear  by.  Their  exple- 
tives were  foul  words,  of  which  they  had  a  supera- 
bundance, and  which  men,  women,  and  children  alike 
used  with  a  frequency  and  hardihood  that  amazed 
and  scandalized  the  priest.1  Nor  was  he  better 
pleased  with  their  postures,  in  which  they  consulted 
nothing  but  their  ease.  Thus,  of  an  evening  when 
the  wigwam  was  heated  to  suffocation,  the  sorcerer, 
in  the  closest  possible  approach  to  nudity,  lay  on  his 
back,  with  his  right  knee  planted  upright  and  his 
left  leg  crossed  on  it,  discoursing  volubly  to  the  com- 
pany, who,  on  their  part,  listened  in  postures  scarcely 
less  remote  from  decency. 

There  was  one  point  touching  which  Le  Jeune  and 
his  Jesuit  brethren  had  as  yet  been  unable  to  solve 
their  doubts.  Were  the  Indian  sorcerers  mere 
impostors,  or  were  they  in  actual  league  with  the 
Devil?  That  the  fiends  who  possess  this  land  of 
darkness  make  their  power  felt  by  action  direct  and 
potential  upon  the  persons  of  its  wretched  inhabi- 

i  "  Aussi  leur  disois-je  par  fois,  qne  si  les  pourceaux  et  les  chiens 
S9auoient  parler,  ils  tiendroient  leur  langage.  .  .  .  Les  fllles  et  les 
ieunes  femmes  sont  a  1'exterieur  tres  honnestement  couuertes,  mais 
entre  elles  leurs  discours  sont  puants,  comme  des  cloaques."  — 
Relation,  1634,  32.  The  social  manners  of  remote  tribes  of  the 
present  time  correspond  perfectly  with  Le  Jeune's  account  of  those 
of  the  Montagnais. 


120  LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS.    [1633-34. 

tants  there  is,  argues  Le  Jeune,  good  reason  to  con- 
clude ;  since  it  is  a  matter  of  grave  notoriety  that  the 
fiends  who  infest  Brazil  are  accustomed  cruelly  to 
beat  and  otherwise  torment  the  natives  of  that 
country,  as  many  travellers  attest.  "A  Frenchman 
worthy  of  credit,"  pursues  the  Father,  "has  told  me 
that  he  has  heard  with  his  own  ears  the  voice  of  the 
Demon  and  the  sound  of  the  blows  which  he  dis- 
charges upon  these  his  miserable  slaves;  and  in 
reference  to  this  a  very  remarkable  fact  has  been 
reported  to  me,  —  namely,  that  when  a  Catholic 
approaches,  the  Devil  takes  flight  and  beats  these 
wretches  no  longer,  but  that  in  presence  of  a  Hugue- 
not he  does  not  stop  beating  them."1 

Thus  prone  to  believe  in  the  immediate  presence  of 
the  nether  powers,  Le  Jeune  watched  the  sorcerer 
with  an  eye  prepared  to  discover  in  his  conjurations 
the  signs  of  a  genuine  diabolic  agency.  His  obser- 
vations, however,  led  him  to  a  different  result;  and 

i  "  Surquoy  on  me  rapporte  vne  chose  tres  remarquable,  c'est  que 
le  Diable  s'enf uit,  et  ne  frappe  point  ou  cesse  de  frapper  ces  miser- 
ables,  quand  vn  Catholique  entre  en  leur  compagnie,  et  qu'il  ne 
laiss  point  de  lea  battre  en  la  presence  d'vn  Huguenot :  d'ou  vient 
qu'vn  iour  se  voyans  battus  en  la  compagnie  d'vn  certain  Franfois, 
ils  luy  dirent :  Nous  nous  estonnons  que  le  diable  nous  batte,  toy 
estant  auec  nous,  veu  qu'il  n'oseroit  le  faire  quand  tes  compagnons 
sont  presents.  Luy  se  douta  incontinent  que  cela  pouuoit  prouenir 
de  sa  religion  (car  il  estoit  Caluiniste) ;  s'addressant  done  a  Dieu,  il 
luy  promit  de  se  faire  Catholique  si  le  diable  cessoit  de  battre  ces 
pauures  peuples  en  sa  presence.  Le  voeu  fait,  iamais  plus  aucun 
Demon  ne  molesta  Ameriquain  en  sa  compagnie,  d'ou  vient  qu'il  se 
fit  Catholique,  selon  la  promesse  qu'il  en  auoit  faicte.  Mais  retour- 
nons  a  nostre  discours."  —  Relation,  1634,  22. 


1633-34.]  MAGIC.  121 

he  could  detect  in  his  rival  nothing  but  a  vile  com- 
pound of  impostor  and  dupe.  The  sorcerer  believed 
in  the  efficacy  of  his  own  magic,  and  was  continually 
singing  and  beating  his  drum  to  cure  the  disease 
from  which  he  was  suffering.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  winter,  Le  Jeune  fell  sick,  and  in  his  pain  and 
weakness  nearly  succumbed  under  the  nocturnal 
uproar  of  the  sorcerer,  who  hour  after  hour  sang  and 
drummed  without  mercy,  —  sometimes  yelling  at  the 
top  of  his  throat,  then  hissing  like  a  serpent,  then 
striking  his  drum  on  the  ground  as  if  in  a  frenzy, 
then  leaping  up,  raving  about  the  wigwam,  and 
calling  on  the  women  and  children  to  join  him  in 
singing.  Now  ensued  a  hideous  din ;  for  every  throat 
was  strained  to  the  utmost,  and  all  were  beating 
with  sticks  or  fists  on  the  bark  of  the  hut  to  increase 
the  noise,  with  the  charitable  object  of  aiding  the 
sorcerer  to  conjure  down  his  malady,  or  drive  away 
the  evil  spirit  that  caused  it. 

He  had  an  enemy,  a  rival  sorcerer,  whom  he 
charged  with  having  caused  by  charms  the  disease 
that  afflicted  him.  He  therefore  announced  that  he 
should  kill  him.  As  the  rival  dwelt  at  Gaspe",  a 
hundred  leagues  off,  the  present  execution  of  the 
threat  might  appear  difficult;  but  distance  was  no 
bar  to  the  vengeance  of  the  sorcerer.  Ordering  all 
the  children  and  all  but  one  of  the  women  to  leave 
the  wigwam,  he  seated  himself,  with  the  woman  who 
remained,  on  the  ground  in  the  centre,  while  the  men 
of  the  party,  together  with  those  from  other  wig- 


122  LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS.    [1633-34. 

warns  in  the  neighborhood,  sat  in  a  ring  around. 
Mestigoit,  the  sorcerer's  brother,  then  brought  in  the 
charm,  consisting  of  a  few  small  pieces  of  wood,  some 
arrow-heads,  a  broken  knife,  and  an  iron  hook,  which 
he  wrapped  in  a  piece  of  hide.  The  woman  next 
rose,  and  walked  around  the  hut,  behind  the  com- 
pany. Mestigoit  and  the  sorcerer  now  dug  a  large 
hole  with  two  pointed  stakes,  the  whole  assembly 
singing,  drumming,  and  howling  meanwhile  with  a 
deafening  uproar.  The  hole  made,  the  charm, 
wrapped  in  the  hide,  was  thrown  into  it.  Pierre,  the 
Apostate,  then  brought  a  sword  and  a  knife  to  the 
sorcerer,  who,  seizing  them,  leaped  into  the  hole,  and 
with  furious  gesticulation  hacked  and  stabbed  at  the 
charm,  yelling  with  the  whole  force  of  his  lungs. 
At  length  he  ceased,  displayed  the  knife  and  sword 
stained  with  blood,  proclaimed  that  he  had  mortally 
wounded  his  enemy,  and  demanded  if  none  present 
had  heard  his  death-cry.  The  assembly,  more  occu- 
pied in  making  noises  than  in  listening  for  them, 
gave  no  reply,  till  at  length  two  young  men  declared 
that  they  had  heard  a  faint  scream,  as  if  from  a  great 
distance ;  whereat  a  shout  of  gratulation  and  triumph 
rose  from  all  the  company.1 

i  "Le  magicien  tout  glorieux  dit  que  son  homme  est  frappe,  qu'il 
mourra  bien  tost,  demande  si  on  n'a  point  entendu  ses  cris  :  tout  le 
monde  dit  que  non,  horsmis  deux  ieunes  hommes  ses  parens,  qui 
disent  auoir  ouy  des  plaintes  fort  sourdes,  et  comme  de  loing.  O 
qu'ils  le  firent  aise !  Se  tournant  vers  moy,  il  se  mit  a  rire,  disant : 
Voyez  cette  robe  noire,  qui  nous  vient  dire  qu'il  ne  faut  tuer  per- 
sonne.  Comme  ie  regardois  attentiuement  1'espee  et  le  poignard,  il 
me  les  fit  presenter :  Kegarde,  dit-il,  qu'est  cela  ?  C'est  du  sang, 


1633-34.]         ••  INCANTATIONS.  123 

There  was  a  young  prophet,  or  diviner,  in  one  of 
the  neighboring  huts,  of  whom  the  sorcerer  took 
counsel  as  to  the  prospect  of  his  restoration  to  health. 
The  divining-lodge  was  formed,  in  this  instance,  of 
five  or  six  upright  posts  planted  in  a  circle  and 
covered  with  a  blanket.  The  prophet  ensconced 
himself  within ;  and  after  a  long  interval  of  singing, 
the  spirits  declared  their  presence  by  their  usual 
squeaking  utterances  from  the  recesses  of  the  mystic 
tabernacle.  Their  responses  were  not  unfavorable; 
and  the  sorcerer  drew  much  consolation  from  the 
invocations  of  his  brother  impostor.1 

Besides  his  incessant  endeavors  to  annoy  Le  Jeune, 
the  sorcerer  now  and  then  tried  to  frighten  him.  On 
one  occasion,  when  a  period  of  starvation  had  been 
followed  by  a  successful  hunt,  the  whole  party 
assembled  for  one  of  the  gluttonous  feasts  usual  with 
them  at  such  times.  While  the  guests  sat  expectant, 
and  the  squaws  were  about  to  ladle  out  the  banquet, 
the  sorcerer  suddenly  leaped  up,  exclaiming  that  he 
had  lost  his  senses,  and  that  knives  and  hatchets  must 
be  kept  out  of  his  way,  as  he  had  a  mind  to  kill  some- 
body. Then,  rolling  his  eyes  towards  Le  Jeune,  he 
began  a  series  of  frantic  gestures  and  outcries,  - 
then  stopped  abruptly  and  stared  into  vacancy,  silent 

repartis-ie.  De  qui  ?  De  quelque  Orignac  ou  d'autre  animal.  Us 
se  mocquerent  de  moy,  disants  que  c'estoit  du  sang  de  ce  Sorcier  de 
Gaspe.  Comment,  dis-je,  il  est  a  plus  de  cent  lieue's  d'icy  ?  II  est 
vray,  font-ils,  mais  c'est  le  Manitou,  c'est  a  dire  le  Diable,  qui 
apporte  son  sang  pardessous  la  terre."  —  Relation,  1634,  21. 
1  See  Introduction.  Also,  "  Pioneers  of  France,"  ii.  169. 


124  LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS.    [1633-34. 

and  motionless,  —  then  resumed  his  former  clamor, 
raged  in  and  out  of  the  hut,  and,  seizing  some  of  its 
supporting  poles,  broke  them,  as  if  in  an  uncontrol- 
lable frenzy.  The  missionary,  though  alarmed,  sat 
reading  his  breviary  as  before.  When,  however,  on 
the  next  morning,  the  sorcerer  began  again  to  play 
the  maniac,  the  thought  occurred  to  him  that  some 
stroke  of  fever  might  in  truth  have  touched  his  brain. 
Accordingly,  he  approached  him  and  felt  his  pulse, 
which  he  found,  in  his  own  words,  "as  cool  as  a 
fish."  The  pretended  madman  looked  at  him  with 
astonishment,  and,  giving  over  the  attempt  to  frighten 
him,  presently  returned  to  his  senses.1 

Le  Jeune,  robbed  of  his  sleep  by  the  ceaseless 
thumping  of  the  sorcerer's  drum  and  the  monotonous 
cadence  of  his  medicine-songs,  improved  the  time  in 
attempts  to  convert  him.  "I  began,"  he  says,  "by 
evincing  a  great  love  for  him,  and  by  praises,  which 
I  threw  to  him  as  a  bait  whereby  I  might  catch  him 
in  the  net  of  truth."  2  But  the  Indian,  though  pleased 
with  the  Father's  flatteries,  was  neither  caught  nor 
conciliated. 

1  The  Indians,  it  is  well  known,  ascribe  mysterious  and  super- 
natural powers  to  the  insane,  and  respect  them  accordingly.    The 
Neutral     Nation    (see    Introduction,  33)    was   full    of   pretended 
madmen,  who  raved  about  the  villages,  throwing  firebrands,  and 
making  other  displays  of  frenzy. 

2  "Ie  commen^ay  par  vn  temoignage  de  grand  amour  en  son 
endroit,  et  par  des  louanges  que  ie  luy  iettay  comme  vne  amorce 
pour  le  prendre  dans  les  filets  de  la  verite.    Ie  luy  fis  entendre  que 
si  vn  esprit,  capable  des  choses  grandes  comme  le  sien,  cognoissoit 
Dieu,  que  tous  les  Sauuages  induis  par  son  exemple  le  voudroient 
aussi  cognoistre." — Relation,  1634,  71. 


1633-34.]  CHRISTMAS.  125 

Nowhere  was  his  magic  in  more  requisition  than 
in  procuring  a  successful  chase  to  the  hunters,  —  a 
point  of  vital  interest,  since  on  it  hung  the  lives  of 
the  whole  party.  They  often,  however,  returned 
empty-handed;  and  for  one,  two,  or  three  successive 
days  no  other  food  could  be  had  than  the  bark  of 
trees  or  scraps  of  leather.  So  long  as  tobacco  lasted, 
they  found  solace  in  their  pipes,  which  seldom  left 
their  lips.  "Unhappy  infidels,"  writes  Le  Jeune, 
"  who  spend  their  lives  in  smoke,  and  their  eternity 
in  flames!  " 

As  Christinas  approached,  their  condition  grew 
desperate.  Beavers  and  porcupines  were  scarce,  and 
the  snow  was  not  deep  enough  for  hunting  the  moose. 
Night  and  day  the  medicine-drums  and  medicine- 
songs  resounded  from  the  wigwams,  mingled  with 
the  wail  of  starving  children.  The  hunters  grew 
weak  and  emaciated;  and  as  after  a  forlorn  march 
the  wanderers  encamped  once  more  in  the  lifeless 
forest,  the  priest  remembered  that  it  was  the  eve  of 
Christmas.  "The  Lord  gave  us  for  our  supper  a 
porcupine,  large  as  a  sucking  pig,  and  also  a  rabbit. 
It  was  not  much,  it  is  true,  for  eighteen  or  nineteen 
persons;  but  the  Holy  Virgin  and  St.  Joseph,  her 
glorious  spouse,  were  not  so  well  treated,  on  this 
very  day,  in  the  stable  of  Bethlehem."1 

1  "  Pour  nostre  souper,  N.  S.  nous  donna  vn  Porc-espic  gros 
comme  vn  cochon  de  lait,  et  vn  lieure ;  c'estoit  peu  pour  dix-huit 
ou  vingt  personnes  que  tnous  estions,  il  est  vray,  mais  la  saincte 
Vierge  et  son  glorieux  Espoux  sainct  Joseph  ne  furent  pas  si  bien 
traictez  a  mesme  iour  dans  Testable  de  Bethleera."  —  Relation, 
1634,74. 


126  LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS.     [1633-34. 

On  Christmas  Day,  the  despairing  hunters,  again 
unsuccessful,  came  to  pray  succor  from  Le  Jeune. 
Even  the  Apostate  had  become  tractable,  and  the 
famished  sorcerer  was  ready  to  try  the  efficacy  of  an 
appeal  to  the  deity  of  his  rival.  A  bright  hope 
possessed  the  missionary.  He  composed  two  prayers, 
which,  with  the  aid  of  the  repentant  Pierre,  he  trans- 
lated into  Algonquin.  Then  he  hung  against  the 
side  of  the  hut  a  napkin  which  he  had  brought  with 
him,  and  against  the  napkin  a  crucifix  and  a  reliquary, 
and,  this  done,  caused  all  the  Indians  to  kneel  before 
them,  with  hands  raised  and  clasped.  He  now  read 
one  of  the  prayers,  and  required  the  Indians  to  repeat 
the  other  after  him,  promising  to  renounce  their 
superstitions  and  obey  Christ,  whose  image  they  saw 
before  them,  if  he  would  give  them  food  and  save 
them  from  perishing.  The  pledge  given,  he  dis- 
missed the  hunters  with  a  benediction.  At  night 
they  returned  with  game  enough  to  relieve  the  imme- 
diate necessity.  All  was  hilarity.  The  kettles  were 
slung,  and  the  feasters  assembled.  Le  Jeune  rose  to 
speak,  when  Pierre,  who  having  killed  nothing  was 
in  ill  humor,  said,  with  a  laugh,  that  the  crucifix  and 
the  prayer  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  good  luck; 
while  the  sorcerer,  his  jealousy  reviving  as  he  saw 
his  hunger  about  to  be  appeased,  called  out  to  the 
missionary,  "  Hold  your  tongue !  You  have  no  sense !  " 
As  usual,  all  took  their  cue  from  him.  They  fell  to 
their  repast  with  ravenous  jubilation,  and  the  disap- 
pointed priest  sat  dejected  and  silent. 


1634.]        LE  JEUNE  LEAVES  THE  INDIANS.         127 

Repeatedly,  before  the  spring,  they  were  thus 
threatened  with  starvation.  Nor  was  their  case 
exceptional.  It  was  the  ordinary  winter  life  of  all 
those  Northern  tribes  who  did  not  till  the  soil,  but 
lived  by  hunting  and  fishing  alone.  The  desertion 
or  the  killing  of  the  aged,  sick,  and  disabled,  occa- 
sional cannibalism,  and  frequent  death  from  famine 
were  natural  incidents  of  an  existence  which  during 
half  the  year  was  but  a  desperate  pursuit  of  the  mere 
necessaries  of  life  under  the  worst  conditions  of  hard- 
ship, suffering,  and  debasement. 

At  the  beginning  of  April,  after  roaming  for  five 
months  among  forests  and  mountains,  the  party  made 
their  last  march,  regained  the  bank  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  waded  to  the  island  where  they  had 
hidden  their  canoes.  Le  Jeune  was  exhausted  and 
sick,  and  Mestigoit  offered  to  carry  him  in  his  canoe 
to  Quebec.  This  Indian  was  by  far  the  best  of  the 
three  brothers,  and  both  Pierre  and  the  sorcerer 
looked  to  him  for  support.  He  was  strong,  active, 
and  daring,  a  skilful  hunter,  and  a  dexterous  canoe- 
man.  Le  Jeune  gladly  accepted  his  offer;  embarked 
with  him  and  Pierre  on  the  dreary  and  tempestuous 
river;  and,  after  a  voyage  full  of  hardship,  during 
which  the  canoe  narrowly  escaped  being  ground  to 
atoms  among  the  floating  ice,  landed  on  the  Island  of 
Orleans,  six  miles  from  Quebec.  The  afternoon  was 
stormy  and  dark,  and  the  river  was  covered  with  ice, 
sweeping  by  with  the  tide.  They  were  forced  to 
encamp.  At  midnight  the  moon  had  risen,  the  river 


128  LE  JEUNE  AND  THE  HUNTERS.          [1634. 

was  comparatively  unencumbered,  and  they  embarked 
once  more.  The  wind  increased,  and  the  waves 
tossed  furiously.  Nothing  saved  them  but  the  skill 
and  courage  of  Mestigoit.  At  length  they  could  see 
the  rock  of  Quebec  towering  through  the  gloom,  but 
piles  of  ice  lined  the  shore,  while  floating  masses 
were  drifting  down  on  the  angry  current.  The 
Indian  watched  his  moment,  shot  his  canoe  through 
them,  gained  the  fixed  ice,  leaped  out,  and  shouted 
to  his  companions  to  follow.  Pierre  scrambled  up, 
but  the  ice  was  six  feet  out  of  the  water,  and  Le 
Jeune's  agility  failed  him.  He  saved  himself  by 
clutching  the  ankle  of  Mestigoit,  by  whose  aid  he 
gained  a  firm  foothold  at  the  top,  and,  for  a  moment, 
the  three  voyagers,  aghast  at  the  narrowness  of  their 
escape,  stood  gazing  at  each  other  in  silence. 

It  was  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  Le 
Jeune  knocked  at  the  door  of  his  rude  little  convent 
on  the  St.  Charles;  and  the  Fathers,  springing  in 
joyful  haste  from  their  slumbers,  embraced  their  long- 
absent  Superior  with  ejaculations  of  praise  and 
benediction. 


CHAPTER   V. 
1633,  1634. 

THE  HURON  MISSION. 

PLANS  OF  CONVEESION.  —  ALMS  AND  MOTIVES.  —  INDIAN  DIPLO- 
MACY. —  HURONS  AT  QUEBEC.  —  COUNCILS.  —  THE  JESUIT 
CHAPEL.  —  LE  BORGNE.  —  THE  JESUITS  THWARTED. —  THEIR 
PERSEVERANCE.  —  THE  JOURNEY  TO  THE  HURONS.  —  JEAN  DE 
BREBEUF. —  THE  MISSION  BEGUN. 

LE  JEUNE  had  learned  the  difficulties  of  the 
Algonquin  mission.  To  imagine  that  he  recoiled  or 
faltered  would  be  an  injustice  to  his  Order;  but  on 
two  points  he  had  gained  convictions :  first,  that  little 
progress  could  be  made  in  converting  these  wandering 
hordes  till  they  could  be  settled  in  fixed  abodes ;  and, 
secondly,  that  their  scanty  numbers,  their  geographi- 
cal position,  and  their  slight  influence  in  the  politics 
of  the  wilderness  offered  no  flattering  promise  that 
their  conversion  would  be  fruitful  in  further  triumphs 
of  the  Faith.  It  was  to  another  quarter  that  the 
Jesuits  looked  most  earnestly.  By  the  vast  lakes  of 
the  West  dwelt  numerous  stationary  populations,  and 
particularly  the  Hurons,  on  the  lake  which  bears 
their  name.  Here  was  a  hopeful  basis  of  indefinite 
conquests;  for,  the  Hurons  won  over,  the  Faith 

VOL.    I.  — 9 


130  THE  HURON  MISSION.  [1633. 

would  spread  in  wider  and  wider  circles,  embracing, 
one  by  one,  the  kindred  tribes,  —  the  Tobacco  Nation, 
the  Neutrals,  the  Eries,  and  the  Andastes.  Nay,  in 
His  own  time,  God  might  lead  into  His  fold  even  the 
potent  and  ferocious  Iroquois. 

The  way  was  pathless  and  long,  by  rock  and  tor- 
rent and  the  gloom  of  savage  forests.  The  goal  was 
more  dreary  yet.  Toil,  hardship,  famine,  filth,  sick- 
ness, solitude,  insult,  —  all  that  is  most  revolting  to 
men  nurtured  among  arts  and  letters,  all  that  is  most 
terrific  to  monastic  credulity,  —  such  were  the  promise 
and  the  reality  of  the  Huron  mission.  In  the  eyes  of 
the  Jesuits,  the  Huron  country  was  the  innermost 
stronghold  of  Satan,  his  castle  and  his  donjon-keep.1 
All  the  weapons  of  his  malice  were  prepared  against 
the  bold  invader  who  should  assail  him  in  this,  the 
heart  of  his  ancient  domain.  Far  from  shrinking, 
the  priest's  zeal  rose  to  tenfold  ardor.  He  signed 
the  cross,  invoked  St.  Ignatius,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  or 
St.  Francis  Borgia,  kissed  his  reliquary,  said  nine 
masses  to  the  Virgin,  and  stood  prompt  to  battle  with 
all  the  hosts  of  Hell. 

A  life  sequestered  from  social  intercourse  and 
remote  from  every  prize  which  ambition  holds  worth 
the  pursuit,  or  a  lonely  death  under  forms  perhaps 
the  most  appalling,  —  these  were  the  missionaries' 
alternatives.  Their  maligners  may  taunt  them,  if 
they  will,  with  credulity,  superstition,  or  a  blind 

i  "Une  des  principales  forteresses  &  comme  un  donjon  des 
Demons."  —  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1639,  100  (Cramoisy). 


1633.]  JESUIT   SCHEMES.  131 

enthusiasm ;  but  slander  itself  cannot  accuse  them  of 
hypocrisy  or  ambition.  Doubtless,  in  their  propa- 
gandism  they  were  acting  in  concurrence  with  a 
mundane  policy;  but,  for  the  present  at  least,  this 
policy  was  rational  and  humane.  They  were  promot- 
ing the  ends  of  commerce  and  national  expansion. 
The  foundations  of  French  dominion  were  to  be  laid 
deep  in  the  heart  and  conscience  of  the  savage.  His 
stubborn  neck  was  to  be  subdued  to  the  "yoke  of  the 
Faith."  The  power  of  the  priest  established,  that  of 
the  temporal  ruler  was  secure.  These  sanguinary- 
hordes,  weaned  from  intestine  strife,  were  to  unite  in 
a  common  allegiance  to  God  and  the  King.  Mingled 
with  French  traders  and  French  settlers,  softened  by 
French  manners,  guided  by  French  priests,  ruled  by 
French  officers,  their  now  divided  bands  would  become 
the  constituents  of  a  vast  wilderness  empire,  which 
in  time  might  span  the  continent.  Spanish  civiliza- 
tion crushed  the  Indian ;  English  civilization  scorned 
and  neglected  him ;  French  civilization  embraced  and 
cherished  him. 

Policy  and  commerce,  then,  built  their  hopes  on 
the  priests.  These  commissioned  interpreters  of  the 
Divine  Will,  accredited  with  letters  patent  from 
Heaven  and  affiliated  to  God's  anointed  on  earth, 
would  have  pushed  to  its  most  unqualified  application 
the  Scripture  metaphor  of  the  shepherd  and  the 
sheep.  They  would  have  tamed  the  wild  man  of  the 
woods  to  a  condition  of  obedience,  unquestioning, 
passive,  and  absolute,  —  repugnant  to  manhood,  and 


132  THE  HURON  MISSION.  [1633. 

adverse  to  the  invigorating  and  expansive  spirit  of 
modern  civilization.  Yet,  full  of  error  and  full  of 
danger  as  was  their  system,  they  embraced  its  serene 
and  smiling  falsehoods  with  the  sincerity  of  martyrs 
and  the  self-devotion  of  saints. 

We  have  spoken  already  of  the  Hurons,  of  their 
populous  villages  on  the  borders  of  the  great  "  Fresh 
Sea,"  their  trade,  their  rude  agriculture,  their  social 
life,  their  wild  and  incongruous  superstitions,  and 
the  sorcerers,  diviners,  and  medicine-men  who  lived 
on  their  credulity.1  Iroquois  hostility  left  open  but 
one  avenue  to  their  country,  the  long  and  circuitous 
route  which,  eighteen  years  before,  had  been  explored 
by  Champlain,2  —  up  the  river  Ottawa,  across  Lake 
Nipissing,  down  French  River,  and  along  the  shores 
of  the  great  Georgian  Bay  of  Lake  Huron,  —  a  route 
as  difficult  as  it  was  tedious.  Midway,  on  Allumette 
Island,  in  the  Ottawa,  dwelt  the  Algonquin  tribe 
visited  by  Champlain  in  1613,  and  who,  amazed  at 
the  apparition  of  the  white  stranger,  thought  that  he 
had  fallen  from  the  clouds.3  Like  other  tribes  of  this 
region,  they  were  keen  traders,  and  would  gladly 
have  secured  for  themselves  the  benefits  of  an  inter- 
mediate traffic  between  the  Hurons  and  the  French, 
receiving  the  furs  of  the  former  in  barter  at  a  low 
rate,  and  exchanging  them  with  the  latter  at  their  full 
value.  From  their  position,  they  could  at  any  time 
close  the  passage  of  the  Ottawa;  but  as  this  would 

1  See  Introduction. 

2  "  Pioneers  of  France,"  ii.  221.  8  Ibid.  ii.  202. 


1633.]  HURONS   AT  QUEBEC.  133 

have  been  a  perilous  exercise  of  their  rights,1  they 
were  forced  to  act  with  discretion.  An  opportunity 
for  the  practice  of  their  diplomacy  had  lately  occurred. 
On  or  near  the  Ottawa,  at  some  distance  below  them, 
dwelt  a  small  Algonquin  tribe,  called  La  Petite 
Nation.  One  of  this  people  had  lately  killed  a 
Frenchman,  and  the  murderer  was  now  in  the  hands 
of  Champlain,  a  prisoner  at  the  fort  of  Quebec.  The 
savage  politicians  of  Allumette  Island  contrived,  as 
will  soon  be  seen,  to  turn  this  incident  to  profit. 

In  the  July  that  preceded  Le  Jeune's  wintering 
with  the  Montagnais,  a  Huron  Indian,  well  known 
to  the  French,  came  to  Quebec  with  the  tidings  that 
the  annual  canoe-fleet  of  his  countrymen  was  descend- 
ing the  St.  Lawrence.  On  the  twenty-eighth,  the 
river  was  alive  with  them.  A  hundred  and  forty 
canoes,  with  six  or  seven  hundred  savages,  landed  at 
the  warehouses  beneath  the  fortified  rock  of  Quebec, 

*  Nevertheless,  the  Hurons  always  passed  this  way  as  a  matter 
of  favor,  and  gare  yearly  presents  to  the  Algonquins  of  the  island, 
in  acknowledgment  of  the  privilege.  (Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636, 
70.)  By  the  unwritten  laws  of  the  Hurons  and  Algonquins,  every 
tribe  had  the  right,  even  in  full  peace,  of  prohibiting  the  passage  of 
every  other  tribe  across  its  territory.  In  ordinary  cases,  such  pro- 
hibitions were  quietly  submitted  to. 

"Ces  Insulaires  voudraient  bien  que  les  Hurons  ne  vinssent  point 
aux  Fran9ois  &  que  les  Francois  n'allassent  point  aux  Hurons,  afin 
d'emporter  eux  seuls  tout  le  trafic,"  etc.  —  Relation,  1633,  20") 
(Cramoisy),  —  "desirans  eux-mesmes  aller  recueiller  les  marchan 
discs  des  peuples  circonvoisins  pour  les  apporter  aux  Francois." 
This  "Nation  de  1'Isle"  has  been  erroneously  located  at  Montreal. 
Its  true  position  is  indicated  on  the  map  of  Du  Creux,  and  on  an 
ancient  MS.  map  in  the  Depot  des  Cartes,  of  which  a  fac-simile  is 
before  me.  See  also  "Pioneers  of  France." 


134  THE  HURON  MISSION.  [1633. 

and  set  up  their  huts  and  camp-sheds  on  the  strand 
now  covered  by  the  lower  town.  The  greater  number 
brought  furs  and  tobacco  for  the  trade ;  others  came 
as  sight-seers ;  others  to  gamble,  and  others  to  steal, l 
—  accomplishments  in  which  the  Hurons  were  profi- 
cient; their  gambling  skill  being  exercised  chiefly 
against  each  other,  and  their  thieving  talents  against 
those  of  other  nations. 

The  routine  of  these  annual  visits  was  nearly  uni- 
form. On  the  first  day,  the  Indians  built  their  huts ; 
on  the  second,  they  held  their  council  with  the 
French  officers  at  the  fort;  on  the  third  and  fourth, 
they  bartered  their  furs  and  tobacco  for  kettles, 
hatchets,  knives,  cloth,  beads,  iron  arrow-heads, 
coats,  shirts,  and  other  commodities;  on  the  fifth, 
they  were  feasted  by  the  French;  and  at  daybreak 
of  the  next  morning,  they  embarked  and  vanished 
like  a  flight  of  birds.2 

On  the  second  day,  then,  the  long  file  of  chiefs  and 
warriors  mounted  the  pathway  to  the  fort,  —  tall, 
well-moulded  figures,  robed  in  the  skins  of  the  beaver 
and  the  bear,  each  wild  visage  glowing  with  paint 
and  glistening  with  the  oil  which  the  Hurons  extracted 
from  the  seeds  of  the  sunflower.  The  lank  black 
hair  of  one  streamed  loose  upon  his  shoulders ;  that 

1  "  Quelques  vns  d'entre  eux  ne  viennent  a  la  traite  auec  les 
Francis  que  pour  iouer,  d'autres  pour  voir,  quelques  vns  pour 
derober,  et  les  plus  sages  et  les  plus  riches  pour  trafiquer."  —  Le 
Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  34. 

2  "Comme  une  voice  d'oiseaux."  —  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  190 
(Cramoisy).    The  tobacco  brought  to  the  French  by  the  Hurons 
may  have  been  raised  by  the  adjacent  tribe  of  the  Tionnontates, 
who  cultivated  it  largely  for  sale.     See  Introduction. 


1633.]        HURONS  AT   THE  MISSION-HOUSE.         135 

of  another  was  close  shaven,  except  an  upright  ridge, 
which,  bristling  like  the  crest  of  a  dragoon's  helmet, 
crossed  the  crown  from  the  forehead  to  the  neck; 
while  that  of  a  third  hung,  long  and  flowing  from  one 
side,  but  on  the  other  was  cut  short.  Sixty  chiefs 
and  principal  men,  with  a  crowd  of  younger  Avarriors, 
formed  their  council-circle  in  the  fort,  those  of  each 
village  grouped  together,  and  all  seated  on  the  ground 
with  a  gravity  of  bearing  sufficiently  curious  to  those 
who  had  seen  the  same  men  in  the  domestic  circle  of 
their  lodge-fires.  Here,  too,  were  the  Jesuits,  robed 
in  black,  anxious  and  intent ;  and  here  was  Champlain, 
who,  as  he  surveyed  the  throng,  recognized  among 
the  elder  warriors  not  a  few  of  those  who,  eighteen 
years  before,  had  been  his  companions  in  arms  on  his 
hapless  foray  against  the  Iroquois.1 

Their  harangues  of  compliment  being  made  and 
answered,  and  the  inevitable  presents  given  and 
received,  Champlain  introduced  to  the  silent  conclave 
the  three  missionaries,  Bre'beuf,  Daniel,  and  Davost. 
To  their  lot  had  fallen  the  honors,  dangers,  and  woes 
of  the  Huron  mission.  "  These  are  our  fathers, "  he 
said.  "  We  love  them  more  than  we  love  ourselves. 
The  whole  French  nation  honors  them.  They  do 
not  go  among  you  for  your  furs.  They  have  left 
their  friends  and  their  country  to  show  you  the  way 
to  heaven.  If  you  love  the  French,  as  you  say  you 
love  them,  then  love  and  honor  these  our  fathers."2 

1  See  "  Pioneers  of  France,"  ii.  227. 

2  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1633,  274  (Cramoisy) ;   Mercure  Franyais, 
1634,  845. 


136  THE  HURON  MISSION.  [1633. 

Two  chiefs  rose  to  reply,  and  each  lavished  all  his 
rhetoric  in  praises  of  Champlain  and  of  the  French. 
Bre'beuf  rose  next,  and  spoke  in  broken  Huron,  —  the 
assembly  jerking  in  unison,  from  the  bottom  of  their 
throats,  repeated  ejaculations  of  applause.  Then  they 
surrounded  him,  and  vied  with  each  other  for  the 
honor  of  carrying  him  in  their  canoes.  In  short, 
the  mission  was  accepted;  and  the  chiefs  of  the 
different  villages  disputed  among  themselves  the 
privilege  of  receiving  and  entertaining  the  three 
priests. 

On  the  last  of  July,  the  day  of  the  feast  of  St. 
Ignatius,  Champlain  and  several  masters  of  trading- 
vessels  went  to  the  house  of  the  Jesuits  in  quest  of 
indulgences;  and  here  they  were  soon  beset  by  a 
crowd  of  curious  Indians,  who  had  finished  their 
traffic  and  were  making  a  tour  of  observation.  Being 
excluded  from  the  house,  they  looked  in  at  the 
windows  of  the  room  which  served  as  a  chapel ;  and 
Champlain,  amused  at  their  exclamations  of  wonder, 
gave  one  of  them  a  piece  of  citron.  The  Huron 
tasted  it,  and,  enraptured,  demanded  what  it  was. 
Champlain  replied,  laughing,  that  it  was  the  rind  of 
a  French  pumpkin.  The  fame  of  this  delectable 
production  was  instantly  spread  abroad ;  and,  at  every 
window,  eager  voices  and  outstretched  hands  peti- 
tioned for  a  share  of  the  marvellous  vegetable.  They 
were  at  length  allowed  to  enter  the  chapel,  which 
had  lately  been  decorated  with  a  few  hangings, 
images,  and  pieces  of  plate.  These  unwonted  splen- 


1633.]  THE  JESUITS  THWARTED.  137 

dors  filled  them  with  admiration.  They  asked  if  the 
dove  over  the  altar  was  the  bird  that  makes  the 
thunder,  and,  pointing  to  the  images  of  Loyola  and 
Xavier,  inquired  if  they  were  okies,  or  spirits;  nor 
was  their  perplexity  much  diminished  by  Brdbeuf's 
explanation  of  their  true  character.  Three  images  of 
the  Virgin  next  engaged  their  attention;  and,  in 
answer  to  their  questions,  they  were  told  that  they 
were  the  mother  of  Him  who  made  the  world.  This 
greatly  amused  them,  and  they  demanded  if  he  had 
three  mothers.  "  Oh!  "  exclaims  the  Father  Superior, 
"  had  we  but  images  of  all  the  holy  mysteries  of  our 
faith!  They  are  a  great  assistance,  for  they  speak 
their  own  lesson."1  The  mission  was  not  doomed 
long  to  suffer  from  a  dearth  of  these  inestimable 
auxiliaries. 

The  eve  of  departure  came.  The  three  priests 
packed  their  baggage,  and  Champlain  paid  their 
passage,  or,  in  other  words,  made  presents  to  the 
Indians  who  were  to  carry  them  in  their  canoes. 
They  lodged  that  night  in  the  storehouse  of  the  fur 
company,  around  which  the  Hurons  were  encamped ; 
and  Le  Jeune  and  De  Noue  stayed  with  them  to  bid 
them  farewell  in  the  morning.  At  eleven  at  night, 
they  were  aroused  by  a  loud  voice  in  the  Indian 
camp,  and  saw  Le  Borgne,  the  one-eyed  chief  of 
Allumette  Island,  walking  round  among  the  huts, 
haranguing  as  he  went.  Bre"beuf,  listening,  caught 
the  import  of  his  words.  "We  have  begged  the 

i  Relation,  1633,  38. 


138  THE  HUKON  MISSION.  [1634. 

French  captain  to  spare  the  life  of  the  Algonquin  of 
the  Petite  Nation  whom  he  keeps  in  prison;  but  he 
will  not  listen  to  us.  The  prisoner  will  die.  Then 
his  people  will  revenge  him.  They  will  try  to  kill 
the  three  black  robes  whom  you  are  about  to  carry  to 
your  country.  If  you  do  not  defend  them,  the  French 
will  be  angry,  and  charge  you  with  their  death.  But 
if  you  do,  then  the  Algonquins  will  make  war  on  you, 
and  the  river  will  be  closed.  If  the  French  captain 
will  not  let  the  prisoner  go,  then  leave  the  three 
black-robes  where  they  are ;  for  if  you  take  them  with 
you,  they  will  bring  you  to  trouble." 

Such  was  the  substance  of  Le  Borgne's  harangue. 
The  anxious  priests  hastened  up  to  the  fort,  gained 
admittance,  and  roused  Champlain  from  his  slumbers. 
He  sent  his  interpreter  with  a  message  to  the  Hurons 
that  he  wished  to  speak  to  them  before  their  depar- 
ture; and,  accordingly,  in  the  morning  an  Indian 
crier  proclaimed  through  their  camp  that  none  should 
embark  till  the  next  day.  Champlain  convoked  the 
chiefs,  and  tried  persuasion,  promises,  and  threats; 
but  Le  Borgne  had  been  busy  among  them  with  his 
intrigues,  and  now  he  declared  in  the  council,  that, 
unless  the  prisoner  were  released,  the  missionaries 
would  be  murdered  on  their  way,  and  war  would 
ensue.  The  politic  savage  had  two  objects  in  view. 
On  the  one  hand,  he  wished  to  interrupt  the  direct 
intercourse  between  the  French  and  the  Hurons; 
and,  on  the  other,  he  thought  to  gain  credit  and 
influence  with  the  nation  of  the  prisoner  by  effecting 


1634.]  THE  JESUITS   THWARTED.  139 

his  release.  His  first  point  was  won.  Champlain 
would  not  give  up  the  murderer,  knowing  those  with 
whom  he  was  dealing  too  well  to  take  a  course  which 
would  have  proclaimed  the  killing  of  a  Frenchman  a 
venial  offence.  The  Hurons  thereupon  refused  to 
carry  the  missionaries  to  their  country;  coupling  the 
refusal  with  many  regrets  and  many  protestations  of 
love,  partly,  no  doubt,  sincere,  —  for  the  Jesuits  had 
contrived  to  gain  no  little  favor  in  their  eyes.  The 
council  broke  up,  the  Hurons  embarked,  and  the 
priests  returned  to  their  convent. 

Here,  under  the  guidance  of  Brdbeuf,  they  em- 
ployed themselves,  amid  their  other  avocations,  in 
studying  the  Huron  tongue.  A  year  passed,  and 
again  the  Indian  traders  descended  from  their  vil- 
lages. In  the  mean  while,  grievous  calamities  had 
befallen  the  nation.  They  had  suffered  deplorable 
reverses  at  the  hands  of  the  Iroquois ;  while  a  pesti- 
lence, similar  to  that  which  a  few  years  before  had 
swept  off  the  native  populations  of  New  England,  had 
begun  its  ravages  among  them.  They  appeared  at 
Three  Rivers  —  this  year  the  place  of  trade  —  in 
small  numbers,  and  in  a  miserable  state  of  dejection 
and  alarm.  Du  Plessis  Bochart,  commander  of  the 
French  fleet,  called  them  to  a  council,  harangued 
them,  feasted  them,  and  made  them  presents;  but 
they  refused  to  take  the  Jesuits.  In  private,  how- 
ever, some  of  them  were  gained  over;  then  again 
refused;  then,  at  the  eleventh  hour,  a  second  time 
consented.  On  the  eve  of  embarkation,  they  once 


140  THE  HURON  MISSION.  [1634. 

more  wavered.  All  was  confusion,  doubt,  and  un- 
certainty, when  Bre*beuf  bethought  him  of  a  vow  to 
St.  Joseph.  The  vow  was  made.  At  once,  he  says, 
the  Indians  became  tractable;  the  Fathers  embarked, 
and,  amid  salvos  of  cannon  from  the  ships,  set  forth 
for  the  wild  scene  of  their  apostleship. 

They  reckoned  the  distance  at  nine  hundred  miles ; 
but  distance  was  the  least  repellent  feature  of  this 
most  arduous  journey.  Barefoot,  lest  their  shoes 
should  injure  the  frail  vessel,  each  crouched  in  his 
canoe,  toiling  with  unpractised  hands  to  propel  it. 
Before  him,  week  after  week,  he  saw  the  same  lank, 
unkempt  hair,  the  same  tawny  shoulders,  and  long, 
naked  arms  ceaselessly  plying  the  paddle.  The 
canoes  were  soon  separated;  and,  for  more  than  a 
month,  the  Frenchmen  rarely  or  never  met.  Bre*- 
beuf  spoke  a  little  Huron,  and  could  converse  with 
his  escort;  but  Daniel  and  Davost  were  doomed  to  a 
silence  unbroken  save  by  the  occasional  unintelligible 
complaints  and  menaces  of  the  Indians,  of  whom 
many  were  sick  with  the  epidemic,  and  all  were  terri- 
fied, desponding,  and  sullen.  Their  only  food  was  a 
pittance  of  Indian  corn,  crushed  between  two  stones 
and  mixed  with  water.  The  toil  was  extreme.  Bre"- 
beuf  counted  thirty-five  portages,  where  the  canoes 
were  lifted  from  the  water,  and  carried  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  the  voyagers  around  rapids  or  cataracts.  More 
than  fifty  times,  besides,  they  were  forced  to  wade  in 
the  raging  current,  pushing  up  their  empty  barks,  or 
dragging  them  with  ropes.  Bre"be\if  tried  to  do  his 


1634.]         THE  JOURNEY  TO  THE  HURONS.         141 

part;  but  the  boulders  and  sharp  rocks  wounded  his 
naked  feet,  and  compelled  him  to  desist.  He  and  his 
companions  bore  their  share  of  the  baggage  across  the 
portages,  sometimes  a  distance  of  several  miles. 
Four  trips,  at  the  least,  were  required  to  convey  the 
whole.  The  way  was  through  the  dense  forest,  in- 
cumbered  with  rocks  and  logs,  tangled  with  roots  and 
underbrush,  damp  with  perpetual  shade,  and  redolent 
of  decayed  leaves  and  mouldering  wood.1  The  In- 
dians themselves  were  often  spent  with  fatigue. 
Bre*beuf,  a  man  of  iron  frame  and  a  nature  uncon- 
querably resolute,  doubted  if  his  strength  would  sus- 
tain him  to  the  journey's  end.  He  complains  that  he 
had  no  moment  to  read  his  breviary,  except  by  the 
moonlight  or  the  fire,  when  stretched  out  to  sleep  on 
a  bare  rock  by  some  savage  cataract  of  the  Ottawa,  or 
in  a  damp  nook  of  the  adjacent  forest. 

All  the  Jesuits,  as  well  as  several  of  their  country- 
men who  accompanied  them,  suffered  more  or  less  at 
the  hands  of  their  ill-humored  conductors.2  Davost's 

1  "  Adioustez  a  ces  difficultez,  qu'il  faut  coucher  stir  la  terre  nue, 
ou  sur  quelque  dure  roclie,  faute  de  trouuer  dix  ou  douze  pieds  de 
terre  en  quarre  pour  placer  vne  chetiue  cabane ;  qu'il  faut  sentir 
incessamraent  la  puanteur  des  Sauuages  recreus,  marcher  dans  les 
eaux,  dans  les  fanges,  dans  1'obscurite'  et  1'embarras  des  forest,  ou 
les  piqueures  d'vne  multitude  infinie  de  mousquilles  et  cousins  vous 
importunent  fort."  —  Brebeuf ,  Relation  des  Ilurons,  1635,  25,  26. 

2  "  En  ce  voyage,  il  nous  a  f  allu  tous  commencer  par  ces  experi- 
ences a  porter  la  Croix  que  Nostre  Seigneur  nous  presente  pour  son 
honneur,  et  pour  le  salut  de  ces  pauures  Barbares.     Certes  ie  me 
suis  trouue  quelquesfois  si  las,  que  le   corps  n'en   pouuoit   plus. 
Mais  d'ailleurs  mon  ame  ressentoit  de  tres-grands  contentemens, 
considerant  que  ie  souffrois  pour  Dieu :  nul  ne  le  S9ait,  s'il  ne  1'ex- 


142  THE  HURON  MISSION.  [1634. 

Indian  robbed  him  of  a  part  of  his  baggage,  threw  a 
part  into  the  river,  including  most  of  the  books  and 
writing-materials  of  the  three  priests,  and  then  left 
him  behind,  among  the  Algonquins  of  Allumette 
Island.  He  found  means  to  continue  the  journey, 
and  at  length  reached  the  Huron  towns  in  a  lament- 
able state  of  bodily  prostration.  Daniel,  too,  was 
deserted,  but  fortunately  found  another  party  who 
received  him  into  their  canoe.  A  young  Frenchman, 
named  Martin,  was  abandoned  among  the  Nipissings ; 

perimente.  Tous  n'en  ont  pas  este  quittes  a  si  bon  marche." — Bre- 
beuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1635,  26. 

Three  years  afterwards,  a  paper  was  printed  by  the  Jesuits  of 
Paris,  called  Instruction  pour  Its  Peres  de  Nostre  Compagnie  qui  seront 
enuoiez  aux  Hurons,  and  containing  directions  for  their  conduct  on 
this  route  by  the  Ottawa.  It  is  highly  characteristic,  both  of  the 
missionaries  and  of  the  Indians.  Some  of  the  points  are,  in  sub- 
stance, as  follows  :  You  should  love  the  Indians  like  brothers,  with 
whom  you  are  to  spend  the  rest  of  your  life. — Never  make  them 
wait  for  you  in  embarking.  —  Take  a  flint  and  steel  to  light  their 
pipes  and  kindle  their  fire  at  night,  for  these  little  services  win  their 
hearts.  —  Try  to  eat  their  sagamite  as  they  cook  it,  bad  and  dirty  as 
it  is.  Fasten  up  the  skirts  of  your  cassock,  that  you  may  not 
carry  water  or  sand  into  the  canoe.  —  Wear  no  shoes  or  stockings 
in  the  canoe ;  but  you  may  put  them  on  in  crossing  the  portages.  — 
Do  not  make  yourself  troublesome,  even  to  a  single  Indian.  —  Do 
not  ask  them  too  many  questions.  —  Bear  their  faults  in  silence, 
and  appear  always  cheerful.  —  Buy  fish  for  them  from  the  tribes 
you  will  pass ;  and  for  this  purpose  take  with  you  some  awls,  beads, 
knives,  and  fish-hooks.  —  Be  not  ceremonious  with  the  Indians; 
take  at  once  what  they  offer  you;  ceremony  offends  them.  —  Be 
very  careful,  when  in  the  canoe,  that  the  brim  of  your  hat  does  not 
annoy  them.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  wear  your  night-cap. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  impropriety  among  Indians.  —  Remember 
that  it  is  Christ  and  his  cross  that  you  are  seeking ;  and  if  you  aim 
at  anything  else,  you  will  get  nothing  but  affliction  for  body  and 
mind. 


1634.]  BRfiBEUF'S  ARRIVAL.  143 

another,  named  Baron,  on  reaching  the  Huron  coun- 
try, was  robbed  by  his  conductors  of  all  he  had, 
except  the  weapons  in  his  hands.  Of  these  he  made 
good  use,  compelling  the  robbers  to  restore  a  part  of 
their  plunder;^ 

Descending  French  River,  and  following  the  lonely 
shores  of  the  great  Georgian  Bay,  the  canoe  which 
carried  Brebeuf  at  length  neared  its  destination, 
thirty  days  after  leaving  Three  Rivers.  Before  him, 
stretched  in  savage  slumber,  lay  the  forest  shore  of 
the  Hurons.  Did  his  spirit  sink  as  he  approached 
his  dreary  home,  oppressed  with  a  dark  foreboding  of 
what  the  future  should  bring  forth  ?  There  is  some 
reason  to  think  so.  Yet  it  was  but  the  shadow  of  a 
moment ;  for  his  masculine  heart  had  lost  the  sense  of 
fear,  and  his  intrepid  nature  was  fired  with  a  zeal 
before  which  doubts  and  uncertainties  fled  like  the 
mists  of  the  morning.  Not  the  grim  enthusiasm  of 
negation  tearing  up  the  weeds  of  rooted  falsehood,  or 
with  bold  hand  felling  to  the  earth  the  baneful  growth 
of  overshadowing  abuses:  his  was  the  ancient  faith 
uncurtailed,  redeemed  from  the  decay  of  centuries, 
kindled  with  a  new  life,  and  stimulated  to  a  preter- 
natural growth  and  fruitfulness. 

Bre*beuf  and  his  Huron  companions  having  landed, 
the  Indians,  throwing  the  missionary's  baggage  on 
the  ground,  left  him  to  his  own  resources ;  and,  with- 
out heeding  his  remonstrances,  set  forth  for  their 
respective  villages  some  twenty  miles  distant.  Thus 
abandoned,  the  priest  kneeled,  not  to  implore  succor 


144  THE  HURON  MISSION.  [1634. 

in  his  perplexity,  but  to  offer  thanks  to  the  Provi- 
dence which  had  shielded  him  thus  far.  Then,  ris- 
ing, he  pondered  as  to  what  course  he  should  take. 
He  knew  the  spot  well.  It  was  on  the  borders  of  the 
small  inlet  called  Thunder  Bay.  In  the  neighboring 
Huron  town  of  Toanche'  he  had  lived  three  years, 
preaching  and  baptizing;1  but  Toanche*  had  now 
ceased  to  exist.  Here,  Etienne  Brule\  Champlain's 
adventurous  interpreter,  had  recently  been  murdered 
by  the  inhabitants,  who,  in  excitement  and  alarm, 
dreading  the  consequences  of  their  deed,  had  de- 
serted the  spot,  and  built,  at  the  distance  of  a  few 
miles,  a  new  town,  called  Ihonatiria.2  Bre*beuf  hid 
his  baggage  in  the  woods,  including  the  vessels  for 
the  mass,  more  precious  than  all  the  rest,  and  began 
his  search  for  this  new  abode.  He  passed  the  burnt 
remains  of  Toanche",  saw  the  charred  poles  that  had 
formed  the  frame  of  his  little  chapel  of  bark,  and 
found,  as  he  thought,  the  spot  where  Brule"  had  fal- 
len.3 Evening  was  near,  when,  after  following,  be- 
wildered and  anxious,  a  gloomy  forest  path,  he  issued 

1  From  1626  to  1629.    There  is  no  record  of  the  events  of  this 
first  mission,  which  was   ended  with   the   English  occupation  of 
Quebec.    Brebeuf  had  previously  spent  the  winter  of  1625-26  among 
the  Algonquins,  like  Le  Jeune  in  1633-34.  —  Lettre  du  P.  Charles 
Lalemant  an  T.  R.  P.  Mutio  Vitelleschi,  1  Aug.,  1626,  in  Carayon. 

2  Concerning  Brule,  see  "  Pioneers  of  France,"  ii.  234-237. 

8  "  le  vis  pareillement  1'endroit  ou  le  pauure  Estienne  Brule  auoit 
este  barbarement  et  traitreusement  assomme;  ce  qui  me  fit  penser 
que  quelque  iour  on  nous  pourroit  bien  traitter  de  la  sorte,  et  desirer 
au  moins  que  ce  fust  en  pourchassant  la  gloire  de  N.  Seigneur."  — 
Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1635,  28,  29.  The  missionary's  prog- 
nostics were  but  too  well  founded. 


1634.]  BKfiBEUF'S  RECEPTION.  145 

upon  a  wild  clearing,  and  saw  before  him  the  bark 
roofs  of  Ihonatiria. 

A  crowd  ran  out  to  meet  him.  "  Echom  has  come 
again!  Echom  has  come  again!"  they  cried,  recog- 
nizing in  the  distance  the  stately  figure,  robed  in 
black,  that  advanced  from  the  border  of  the  forest. 
They  led  him  to  the  town,  and  the  whole  population 
swarmed  about  him.  After  a  short  rest,  he  set  out 
with  a  number  of  young  Indians  in  quest  of  his  bag' 
gage,  returning  with  it  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
There  was  a  certain  Awandoay  in  the  village,  noted 
as  one  of  the  richest  and  most  hospitable  of  the 
Hurons,  —  a  distinction  not  easily  won  where  hospi- 
tality was  universal.  His  house  was  large,  and 
amply  stored  with  beans  and  corn;  and  though  his 
prosperity  had  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  villagers, 
he  had  recovered  their  good-will  by  his  generosity. 
With  him  Bre'beuf  made  his  abode,  anxiously  waiting, 
week  after  week,  the  arrival  of  his  companions.  One 
by  one,  they  appeared,  —  Daniel,  weary  and  worn ; 
Davost,  half  dead  with  famine  and  fatigue;  and  their 
French  attendants,  each  with  his  tale  of  hardship  and 
indignity.  At  length,  all  were  assembled  under  the 
roof  of  the  hospitable  Indian,  and  once  more  the 
Huron  mission  was  begun. 


VOL.    I.  —  10 


CHAPTER   VI. 

1634,  1635. 
BREBEUF  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES. 

THE  HURON  MISSION-HOUSE  :  ITS  INMATES  ;  ITS  FURNITURE  ;  ITS 
GUESTS.  —  THE  JESUIT  AS  A  TEACHER,  —  As  AN  ENGINEER. — 
BAPTISMS.  —  HURON  VILLAGE  LIFE.  —  FESTIVITIES  AND  SOR- 
CERIES. —  THE  DREAM  FEAST.  —  THE  PRIESTS  ACCUSED  OF 
MAGIC.  —  THE  DROUGHT  AND  THE  KED  CROSS. 

WHERE  should  the  Fathers  make  their  abode? 
Their  first  thought  had  been  to  establish  themselves 
at  a  place  called  by  the  French  Rochelle,  the  largest 
and  most  important  town  of  the  Huron  confederacy ; 
but  Bre"beuf  now  resolved  to  remain  at  Ihonatiria. 
Here  he  was  well  known ;  and  here,  too,  he  flattered 
himself,  seeds  of  the  Faith  had  been  planted,  which, 
with  good  nurture,  would  in  time  yield  fruit. 

By  the  ancient  Huron  custom,  when  a  man  or  a 
family  wanted  a  house,  the  whole  village  joined  in 
building  one.  In  the  present  case,  not  Ihonatiria 
only,  but  the  neighboring  town  of  Wenrio  also,  took 
part  in  the  work,  —  though  not  without  the  expecta- 
tion of  such  gifts  as  the  priests  had  to  bestow.  Be- 
fore October,  the  task  was  finished.  The  house  was 
constructed  after  the  Huron  model.1  It  was  thirty- 
1  See  Introduction,  11-13. 


1634-35.]  THE  HURON  MISSION-HOUSE.  147 

six  feet  long  and  about  twenty  feet  wide,  framed 
with  strong  sapling  poles  planted  in  the  earth  to  form 
the  sides,  with  the  ends  bent  into  an  arch  for  the 
roof,  —  the  whole  lashed  firmly  together,  braced  with 
cross-poles,  and  closely  covered  with  overlapping 
sheets  of  bark.  Without,  the  structure  was  strictly 
Indian ;  but  within,  the  priests,  with  the  aid  of  their 
tools,  made  innovations  which  were  the  astonishment 
of  all  the  country.  They  divided  their  dwelling  by 
transverse  partitions  into  three  apartments,  each  with 
its  wooden  door,  —  a  wondrous  novelty  in  the  eyes  of 
their  visitors.  The  first  served  as  a  hall,  an  ante- 
room, and  a  place  of  storage  for  corn,  beans,  and 
dried  fish.  The  second  —  the  largest  of  the  three  — 
was  at  once  kitchen,  workshop,  dining-room,  draw- 
ing-room, school-room,  and  bed-chamber.  The  third 
was  the  chapel.  Here  they  made  their  altar,  and 
here  were  their  images,  pictures,  and  sacred  vessels. 
Their  fire  was  on  the  ground,  in  the  middle  of  the 
second  apartment,  the  smoke  escaping  by  a  hole  in 
the  roof.  At  the  sides  were  placed  two  wide  plat- 
forms, after  the  Huron  fashion,  four  feet  from  the 
earthen  floor.  On  these  were  chests  in  which  they 
kept  their  clothing  and  vestments,  and  beneath  them 
they  slept,  reclining  on  sheets  of  bark,  and  covered 
with  skins  and  the  garments  they  wore  by  day.  Rude 
stools,  a  hand-mill,  a  large  Indian  mortar  of  wood  for 
crushing  corn,  and  a  clock,  completed  the  furniture 
of  the  room. 

There  was  no  lack  of  visitors,  for  the  house  of  the 


148  BRE"BEUF  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES.    [1634-35. 

black-robes  contained  marvels  l  the  fame  of  which  was 
noised  abroad  to  the  uttermost  confines  of  the  Huron 
nation.  Chief  among  them  was  the  clock.  The 
guests  would  sit  in  expectant  silence  by  the  hour, 
squatted  on  the  ground,  waiting  to  hear  it  strike. 
They  thought  it  was  alive,  and  asked  what  it  ate. 
As  the  last  stroke  sounded,  one  of  the  Frenchmen 
would  cry  "Stop!"  —  and,  to  the  admiration  of  the 
company,  the  obedient  clock  was  silent.  The  mill 
was  another  wonder,  and  they  were  never  tired  of 
turning  it.  Besides  these,  there  was  a  prism  and  a 
magnet;  also  a  magnifying-glass,  wherein  a  flea  was 
transformed  to  a  frightful  monster,  and  a  multiplying 
lens,  which  showed  them  the  same  object  eleven 
times  repeated.  "All  this,"  says  Bre*beuf,  "serves 
to  gain  their  affection,  and  make  them  more  docile  in 
respect  to  the  admirable  and  incomprehensible  mys- 
teries of  our  Faith ;  for  the  opinion  they  have  of  our 
genius  and  capacity  makes  them  believe  whatever  we 
tell  them."2 

"What  does  the  Captain  say?"  was  the  frequent 
question;  for  by  this  title  of  honor  they  designated 
the  clock. 

1  "  Us  ont  pense  qu'elle  entendoit,  principalement  quand,  pour 
rire,  quelqu'vn  de  nos  Francois  s'escrioit  au  dernier  coup  de  mar- 
teau,  c'est  assez  sonne,  et  que  tout  aussi  tost  elle  se  taisoit.    Ils 
1'appellent  le  Capitaine  du  iour.     Quand  elle  sonne,  ils  disent  qu'elle 
parle,  et  demandent,  quand  ils  nous  viennent  veoir,  combien  de  fois 
le  Capitaine  a  desia  parle.     Ils  nous  interrogent  de  son  manger. 
Ils  demeurent  les  heures  entieres,  et  quelquefois  plusieurs,  afin  de 
la  pouuoir  ouyr  parler."  —  BreT)euf ,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1635,  33. 

2  BreTjeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1635,  33. 


1634-35.]     THE  JESUITS  AND  THEIR  GUESTS.      149 

"When  he  strikes  twelve  times,  he  says,  'Hang 
on  the  kettle ' ;  and  when  he  strikes  four  times,  he 
says,  'Get  up,  and  go  home.'"1 

Both  interpretations  were  well  remembered.  At 
noon,  visitors  were  never  wanting,  to  share  the 
Fathers'  sagamite;  but  at  the  stroke  of  four,  all  rose 
and  departed,  leaving  the  missionaries  for  a  time  in 
peace.  Now  the  door  was  barred,  and,  gathering 
around  the  fire,  they  discussed  the  prospects  of  the 
mission,  compared  their  several  experiences,  and  took 
counsel  for  the  future.  But  the  standing  topic  of 
their  evening  talk  was  the  Huron  language.  Con- 
cerning this  each  had  some  new  discovery  to  relate, 
some  new  suggestion  to  offer;  and  in  the  task  of  ana- 
lyzing its  construction  and  deducing  its  hidden  laws, 
these  intelligent  and  highly  cultivated  minds  found  a 
congenial  employment. 

But  while  zealously  laboring  to  perfect  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  language,  they  spared  no  pains  to  turn 
their  present  acquirements  to  account.  Was  man, 
woman,  or  child  sick  or  suffering,  they  were  always 
at  hand  with  assistance  and  relief,  —  adding,  as  they 
saw  opportunity,  explanations  of  Christian  doctrine, 
pictures  of  Heaven  and  Hell,  and  exhortations  to 
embrace  the  Faith.  Their  friendly  offices  did  not 
cease  here,  but  included  matters  widely  different. 
The  Hurons  lived  in  constant  fear  of  the  Iroquois. 
At  times  the  whole  village  population  would  fly  to 
the  woods  for  concealment,  or  take  refuge  in  one  of 

1  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1639, 17  (Cramoisy). 


150          BRE"BEUF  AND   HIS  ASSOCIATES.     [1634-35. 

the  neighboring  fortified  towns,  on  the  rumor  of  an 
approaching  war-party.  The  Jesuits  promised  them 
the  aid  of  the  four  Frenchmen  armed  with  arque- 
buses, who  had  come  with  them  from  Three  Rivers. 
They  advised  the  Hurons  to  make  their  palisade  forts, 
not,  as  hitherto,  in  a  circular  form,  but  rectangular, 
with  small  flanking  towers  at  the  corners  for  the 
arquebuse-men.  The  Indians  at  once  saw  the  value 
of  the  advice,  and  soon  after  began  to  act  on  it  in  the 
case  of  their  great  town  of  Ossossane",  or  Rochelle.1 

At  every  opportunity,  the  missionaries  gathered 
together  the  children  of  the  village  at  their  house. 
On  these  occasions,  Brebeuf,  for  greater  solemnity, 
put  on  a  surplice  and  the  close,  angular  cap  worn  by 
Jesuits  in  their  convents.  First,  he  chanted  the 
Pater  Noster,  translated  by  Father  Daniel  into  Huron 
rhymes,  —  the  children  chanting  in  their  turn.  Next, 
he  taught  them  the  sign  of  the  cross;  made  them 
repeat  the  Ave,  the  Credo,  and  the  Commandments ; 
questioned  them  as  to  past  instructions;  gave  them 
briefly  a  few  new  ones;  and  dismissed  them  with  a 
present  of  two  or  three  beads,  raisins,  or  prunes.  A 
great  emulation  was  kindled  among  this  small  fry  of 
heathendom.  The  priests,  with  amusement  and  de- 
light, saw  them  gathered  in  groups  about  the  village, 
vying  with  each  other  in  making  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
or  in  repeating  the  rhymes  they  had  learned. 

At  times,  the  elders  of  the  people,  the  repositories 
of  its  ancient  traditions,  were  induced  to  assemble  at 

1  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1630,  86. 


1634-35.]  ATTEMPTS   AT  CONVERSION.  151 

the  house  of  the  Jesuits,  who  explained  to  them  the 
principal  points  of  their  doctrine,  and  invited  them  to 
a  discussion.  The  auditors  proved  pliant  to  a  fault, 
responding,  "  Good, "  or  "  That  is  true, "  to  every  pro- 
position ;  but  when  urged  to  adopt  the  faith  which  so 
readily  met  their  approval,  they  had  always  the  same 
reply :  "  It  is  good  for  the  French ;  but  we  are  another 
people,  with  different  customs."  On  one  occasion, 
Bre"beuf  appeared  before  the  chiefs  and  elders  at  a 
solemn  national  council,  described  Heaven  and  Hell 
with  images  suited  to  their  comprehension,  asked  to 
which  they  preferred  to  go  after  death,  and  then,  in 
accordance  with  the  invariable  Huron  custom  in 
affairs  of  importance,  presented  a  large  and  valuable 
belt  of  wampum,  as  an  invitation  to  take  the  path  to 
Paradise.1 

Notwithstanding  all  their  exhortations,  the  Jesuits, 
for  the  present,  baptized  but  few.  Indeed,  during 
the  first  year  or  more,  they  baptized  no  adults  except 
those  apparently  at  the  point  of  death ;  for,  with  ex- 
cellent reason,  they  feared  backsliding  and  recanta- 
tion. They  found  especial  pleasure  in  the  baptism  of 
dying  infants,  rescuing  them  from  the  flames  of  per- 
dition, and  changing  them,  to  borrow  Le  Jeune's 
phrase,  "from  little  Indians  into  little  angels."2 

1  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  81.    For  the  use  of  wampum 
belts,  see  Introduction,  18-19. 

2  "Le  seiziesme  du  mesme  mois,  deux  petits  Sauvages  furent 
changez  en  deux  petits  Anges."  —  Relation,  1636,  89  (Cramoisy). 

"  O  mon  cher  frere,  vous  pourrois-je  expliquer  quelle  consolation 
ce  m'etoit  quand  je  voyois  un  pauure  baptise  mourir  deux  heures, 


152  BRE"BEUF  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES.    [1634-35. 

The  Fathers'  slumbers  were  brief  and  broken. 
Winter  was  the  season  of  Huron  festivity;  and  as 
they  lay  stretched  on  their  hard  couch,  suffocating 
with  smoke  and  tormented  by  an  inevitable  multitude 
of  fleas,  the  thumping  of  the  drum  resounded  all 
night  long  from  a  neighboring  house,  mingled  with 
the  sound  of  the  tortoise-shell  rattle,  the  stamping 
of  moccasined  feet,  and  the  cadence  of  voices  keep- 
ing time  with  the  dancers.  Again,  some  ambi- 
tious villager  would  give  a  feast,  and  invite  all 
the  warriors  of  the  neighboring  towns;  or  some 
grand  wager  of  gambling,  with  its  attendant  drum- 
ming, singing,  and  outcries,  filled  the  night  with 
discord. 

But  these  were  light  annoyances,  compared  with 
the  insane  rites  to  cure  the  sick,  prescribed  by  the 
"  medicine-men, "  or  ordained  by  the  eccentric  inspira- 
tion of  dreams.  In  one  case,  a  young  sorcerer,  by 
alternate  gorging  and  fasting,  —  both  in  the  interest 
of  his  profession,  —  joined  with  excessive  exertion  in 
singing  to  the  spirits,  contracted  a  disorder  of  the 
brain,  which  caused  him,  in  mid-winter,  to  run  naked 
about  the  village,  howling  like  a  wolf.  The  whole 
population  bestirred  itself  to  effect  a  cure.  The  pa- 

une  demi  journee,  une  ou  deux  journees  apres  son  baptesme,  par- 
ticulierement  quand  c'etoit  un  petit  enfant ! "  —  Lettre  du  Pere  Gar- 
nier  a  son  Frere,  MS.  This  form  of  benevolence  is  beyond  heretic 
appreciation. 

"La  joye  qu'on  a  quand  on  a  baptise  un  Sauvage  qui  se  meurt 
peu  apres,  &  qui  s'envole  droit  au  Ciel,  pour  devenir  un  Ange,  cer- 
tainement  c'est  une  joye  qui  surpasse  tout  ce  qu'on  se  peut  imagi- 
ner."  —  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1635,  221  (Cramoisy). 


1634-35.]  CURE  OF  A  MADMAN.  153 

tient  had,  or  pretended  to  have,  a  dream,  in  which 
the  conditions  of  his  recovery  were  revealed  to  him. 
These  were  equally  ridiculous  and  difficult;  but  the 
elders  met  in  council,  and  all  the  villagers  lent  their 
aid,  till  every  requisition  was  fulfilled,  and  the  incon- 
gruous mass  of  gifts  which  the  madman's  dream  had 
demanded  were  all  bestowed  upon  him.  This  cure 
failing,  a  "medicine-feast"  was  tried;  then  several 
dances  in  succession.  As  the  patient  remained  as 
crazy  as  before,  preparations  were  begun  for  a  grand 
dance,  more  potent  than  all  the  rest.  Bre'beuf  says, 
that,  except  the  masquerades  of  the  Carnival  among 
Christians,  he  never  saw  a  folly  equal  to  it.  "  Some," 
he  adds,  "  had  sacks  over  their  heads,  with  two  holes 
for  the  eyes.  Some  were  as  naked  as  your  hand,  with 
horns  or  feathers  on  their  heads,  their  bodies  painted 
white,  and  their  faces  black  as  devils.  Others  were 
daubed  with  red,  black,  and  white.  In  short,  every 
one  decked  himself  as  extravagantly  as  he  could,  to 
dance  in  this  ballet,  and  contribute  something  towards 
the  health  of  the  sick  man."1  This  remedy  also  fail- 
ing, a  crowning  effort  of  the  medical  art  was  essayed. 
Bre'beuf  does  not  describe  it,  for  fear,  as  he  says,  of 
being  tedious;  but,  for  the  time,  the  village  was  a 
pandemonium.2  This,  with  other  ceremonies,  was 


1  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  116. 

2  "  Suffit  pour  le  present  de  dire  en  general,  que  iamais  les  Bac- 
chantes forcenees  du  temps  passe  ne  firent  rien  de  plus  furieux  en 
leurs  orgyes.     C'est  icy  k  s'entretuer,  disent-ils,  par  des  sorts  qu'ils 
s'entreiettent,  dont  la  composition  est  d'ongles  d'Ours,  de  dents  de 


154  BR^BEUF  AND   HIS  ASSOCIATES.          [1635. 

supposed  to  be  ordered  by  a  certain  image  like  a  doll, 
which  a  sorcerer  placed  in  his  tobacco-pouch,  whence 
it  uttered  its  oracles,  at  the  same  time  moving  as  if 
alive.  "Truly,"  writes  Bre*beuf,  "here  is  nonsense 
enough ;  but  I  greatly  fear  there  is  something  more 
dark  and  mysterious  in  it." 

But  all  these  ceremonies  were  outdone  by  the  grand 
festival  of  the  Ononhara,  or  Dream  Feast,  —  es- 
teemed the  most  powerful  remedy  in  cases  of  sick- 
ness, or  when  a  village  was  infested  with  evil  spirits. 
The  time  and  manner  of  holding  it  were  determined 
at  a  solemn  council.  This  scene  of  madness  began  at 
night.  Men,  women,  and  children,  all  pretending  to 
have  lost  their  senses,  rushed  shrieking  and  howling 
from  house  to  house,  upsetting  everything  in  their 
way,  throwing  fire-brands,  beating  those  they  met  or 
drenching  them  with  water,  and  availing  themselves 
of  this  time  of  license  to  take  a  safe  revenge  on  any 
who  had  ever  offended  them.  This  scene  of  frenzy 
continued  till  daybreak.  No  corner  of  the  village  was 
secure  from  the  maniac  crew.  In  the  morning  there 
was  a  change.  They  ran  from  house  to  house,  ac- 
costing the  inmates  by  name,  and  demanding  of  each 
the  satisfaction  of  some  secret  want  revealed  to  the 
pretended  madman  in  a  dream,  but  of  the  nature  of 
which  he  gave  no  hint  whatever.  The  person  ad- 

Loup,  d'ergots  d'Aigles,  de  certaines  pierres  et  de  nerfs  de  Chien ; 
c'est  &  rendre  du  sang  par  la  bouche  et  par  les  narines,  ou  plustost 
d'vne  poudre  rouge  qu'ils  prennent  subtilement,  estans  tombez  soua 
le  sort,  et  blessez ;  et  dix  mille'autres  sottises  que  ie  laisse  volon- 
tiers."  —  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  117. 


1635.]  THE   DREAM  FEAST.  155 

dressed  thereupon  threw  to  him  at  random  any  article 
at  hand,  as  a  hatchet,  a  kettle,  or  a  pipe;  and  the 
applicant  continued  his  rounds  till  the  desired  gift 
was  hit  upon,  when  he  gave  an  outcry  of  delight, 
echoed  by  gratulatory  cries  from  all  present.  If, 
after  all  his  efforts,  he  failed  in  obtaining  the  object 
of  his  dream,  he  fell  into  a  deep  dejection,  convinced 
that  some  disaster  was  in  store  for  him.1 

The  approach  of  summer  brought  with  it  a  compar- 
ative peace.  Many  of  the  villagers  dispersed,  —  some 
to  their  fishing,  some  to  expeditions  of  trade,  and 
some  to  distant  lodges  by  their  detached  corn-fields. 
The  priests  availed  themselves  of  the  respite  to  en- 
gage in  those  exercises  of  private  devotion  which  the 
rule  of  St.  Ignatius  enjoins.  About  midsummer, 
however,  their  quiet  was  suddenly  broken.  The 
crops  were  withering  under  a  severe  drought,  a  ca- 
lamity which  the  sandy  nature  of  the  soil  made 
doubly  serious.  The  sorcerers  put  forth  their  utmost 
power,  and,  from  the  tops  of  the  houses,  yelled  inces- 
sant invocations  to  the  spirits.  All  was  in  vain;  the 
pitiless  sky  was  cloudless.  There  was  thunder  in  the 
east  and  thunder  in  the  west ;  but  over  Ihonatiria  all 

1  Bre"beuf s  account  of  the  Dream  Feast  is  brief.  The  above 
particulars  are  drawn  chiefly  from  Charlevoix,  Journal  Historique, 
356,  and  Sagard,  Voyage  du  Pays  des  Hurons,  280.  See  also  Lafitau, 
and  other  early  writers.  This  ceremony  was  not  confined  to  the 
Hurons,  but  prevailed  also  among  the  Iroquois,  and  doubtless  other 
kindred  tribes.  The  Jesuit  Dablon  saw  it  in  perfection  at  Onon- 
daga.  It  usually  took  place  in  February,  occupying  about  three 
days,  and  was  often  attended  with  great  indecencies.  The  word 
ononhara  means  "  turning  of  the  brain." 


156  BR^BEUF  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES.          [1635. 

was  serene.  A  renowned  "rain-maker,"  seeing  his 
reputation  tottering  under  his  repeated  failures,  be- 
thought him  of  accusing  the  Jesuits,  and  gave  out 
that  the  red  color  of  the  cross  which  stood  before 
their  house  scared  the  bird  of  thunder,  and  caused 
him  to  fly  another  way.1  On  this  a  clamor  arose. 
The  popular  ire  turned  against  the  priests,  and  the 
obnoxious  cross  was  condemned  to  be  hewn  down. 
Aghast  at  the  threatened  sacrilege,  they  attempted 
to  reason  away  the  storm,  assuring  the  crowd  that 
the  lightning  was  not  a  bird,  but  certain  hot  and  fiery 
exhalations,  which,  being  imprisoned,  darted  this  way 
and  that,  trying  to  escape.  As  this  philosophy  failed 
to  convince  the  hearers,  the  missionaries  changed 
their  line  of  defence. 

"  You  say  that  the  red  color  of  the  cross  frightens 
the  bird  of  thunder.  Then  paint  the  cross  white, 
and  see  if  the  thunder  will  come." 

1  The  following  is  the  account  of  the  nature  of  thunder,  given 
to  BreT)euf  on  a  former  occasion  by  another  sorcerer :  — 

"  It  is  a  man  in  the  form  of  a  turkey-cock.  The  sky  is  his  pal- 
ace, and  he  remains  in  it  when  the  air  is  clear.  When  the  clouds 
begin  to  grumble,  he  descends  to  the  earth  to  gather  up  snakes, 
and  other  objects  which  the  Indians  call  okies.  The  lightning 
flashes  whenever  he  opens  or  closes  his  wings.  If  the  storm  is 
more  violent  than  usual,  it  is  because  his  young  are  with  him,  and 
aiding  in  the  noise  as  well  as  they  can."  —  Relation  des  Hurons, 
1636,  114. 

The  word  oki  is  here  used  to  denote  any  object  endued  with 
supernatural  power.  A  belief  similar  to  the  above  exists  to  this 
day  among  the  Dacotahs.  Some  of  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois,  how- 
ever, held  that  the  thunder  was  a  giant  in  human  form.  Accord- 
ing to  one  story,  he  vomited  from  time  to  time  a  number  of  snakes, 
which,  falling  to  the  earth  caused  the  appearance  of  lightning. 


1635.]         THE  DROUGHT  AND  THE  CROSS.         157 

This  was  accordingly  done ;  but  the  clouds  still  kept 
aloof.  The  Jesuits  followed  up  their  advantage. 

"  Your  spirits  cannot  help  you,  and  your  sorcerers 
have  deceived  you  with  lies.  Now  ask  the  aid  of 
Him  who  made  the  world,  and  perhaps  He  will  listen 
to  your  prayers."  And  they  added  that  if  the  In- 
dians would  renounce  their  sins  and  obey  the  true 
God,  they  would  make  a  procession  daily  to  implore 
His  favor  towards  them. 

There  was  no  want  of  promises.  The  processions 
were  begun,  as  were  also  nine  masses  to  St.  Joseph; 
and  as  heavy  rains  occurred  soon  after,  the  Indians 
conceived  a  high  idea  of  the  efficacy  of  the  French 
"medicine."1 

In  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the  sorcerers,  and  the 
transient  commotion  raised  by  the  red  cross,  the  Jes- 
uits had  gained  the  confidence  and  good-will  of  the 
Huron  population.  Their  patience,  their  kindness, 
their  intrepidity,  their  manifest  disinterestedness,  the 
blamelessness  of  their  lives,  and  the  tact  which,  in 
the  utmost  fervors  of  their  zeal,  never  failed  them, 
had  won  the  hearts  of  these  wayward  savages;  and 
chiefs  of  distant  villages  came  to  urge  that  they 

1  "  Nous  deuons  aussi  beaucoup  au  glorieux  sainct  Joseph,  espoux 
de  Nostre  Dame,  et  protecteur  des  Hurons,  dont  nous  auons  touche* 
au  doigt  Tassistance  plusieurs  fois.  Ce  fut  vne  chose  remarquable, 
que  la  iour  de  sa  feste  et  durant  POctaue,  les  commoditez  nous 
venoient  de  toutes  parts."  —  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1635,41. 

The  above  extract  is  given  as  one  out  of  many  illustrations  of 
the  confidence  with  which  the  priests  rested  on  the  actual  and 
direct  aid  of  their  celestial  guardians.  To  St.  Joseph,  in  particular, 
they  find  no  words  for  their  gratitude. 


158  BRE"BEUF   AND  HIS   ASSOCIATES.          [1635. 

would  make  their  abode  with  them.1  As  yet,  the 
results  of  the  mission  had  been  faint  and  few;  but 
the  priests  toiled  on  courageously,  high  in  hope  that 
an  abundant  harvest  of  souls  would  one  day  reward 
their  labors. 

1  Brebeuf  preserves  a  speech  made  to  him  by  one  of  these  chiefs, 
as  a  specimen  of  Huron  eloquence. — Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  123. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1636,  1637. 
THE  FEAST  OF  THE  DEAD. 

HURON  GRAVES.  —  PREPARATION  FOR  THE  CEREMONY.  —  DISINTER- 
MENT.  —  THE  MOURNING.  —  THE  FUNERAL  MARCH.  —  THE  GREAT 
SEPULCHRE.  —  FUNERAL  GAMES.  —  ENCAMPMENT  OF  THE  MOURN- 
ERS.—  GIFTS.  —  HARANGUES.  —  FRENZY  OF  THE  CROWD.  —  THE 
CLOSING  SCENE.  —  ANOTHER  RITE.  —  THE  CAPTIVE  IROQUOIS. — 
THE  SACRIFICE. 

MENTION  has  been  made  of  those  great  depositories 
of  human  bones  found  at  the  present  day  in  the 
ancient  country  of  the  Hurons.1  They  have  been  a 
theme  of  abundant  speculation ; 2  yet  their  origin  is  a 
subject,  not  of  conjecture,  but  of  historic  certainty. 
The  peculiar  rites  to  which  they  owe  their  existence 
were  first  described  at  length  by  Bre'beuf,  who,  in 
the  summer  of  the  year  1636,  saw  them  at  the  town 
of  Ossossane*. 

The  Jesuits  had  long  been  familiar  with  the  ordi- 
nary rites  of  sepulture  among  the  Hurons,  —  the 
corpse  placed  in  a  crouching  posture  in  the  midst  of 
the  circle  of  friends  and  relatives ;  the  long,  measured 

1  See  Introduction,  76-77. 

2  Among  those  who  have  wondered  and  speculated  over  these 
remains  is  Mr.  Schoolcraft.    A  slight  acquaintance  with  the  early 
writers  would  have  solved  his  doubts. 


160  THE  FEAST   OF  THE  DEAD.  [1636. 

wail  of  the  mourners;  the  speeches  in  praise  of  the 
dead,  and  consolation  to  the  living;  the  funeral 
feast;  the  gifts  at  the  place  of  burial;  the  funeral 
games,  where  the  young  men  of  the  village  contended 
for  prizes ;  and  the  long  period  of  mourning  to  those 
next  of  kin.  The  body  was  usually  laid  on  a  scaffold, 
or,  more  rarely,  in  the  earth.  This,  however,  was 
not  its  final  resting-place.  At  intervals  of  ten  or 
twelve  years,  each  of  the  four  nations  which  com- 
posed the  Huron  Confederacy  gathered  together  its 
dead,  and  conveyed  them  all  to  a  common  place  of 
sepulture.  Here  was  celebrated  the  great  "  Feast  of 
the  Dead,"  —  in  the  eyes  of  the  Hurons,  their  most 
solemn  and  important  ceremonial. 

In  the  spring  of  1636,  the  chiefs  and  elders  of  the 
Nation  of  the  Bear  —  the  principal  nation  of  the  Con- 
federacy, and  that  to  which  Ihonatiria  belonged  — 
assembled  in  a  general  council,  to  prepare  for  the 
great  solemnity.  There  was  an  unwonted  spirit  of 
dissension.  Some  causes  of  jealousy  had  arisen,  and 
three  or  four  of  the  Bear  villages  announced  their 
intention  of  holding  their  Feast  of  the  Dead  apart 
from  the  rest.  As  such  a  procedure  was  thought 
abhorrent  to  every  sense  of  propriety  and  duty,  the 
announcement  excited  an  intense  feeling;  yet  Bre"- 
beuf,  who  was  present,  describes  the  debate  which 
ensued  as  perfectly  calm,  and  wholly  free  from  per- 
sonal abuse  or  recrimination.  The  secession,  how- 
ever, took  place,  and  each  party  withdrew  to  its 
villages  to  gather  and  prepare  its  dead. 


1636.]  *     DISINTERMENT.  161 

The  corpses  were  lowered  from  their  scaffolds,  and 
lifted  from  their  graves.  Their  coverings  were  re- 
moved by  certain  functionaries  appointed  for  the 
office,  and  the  hideous  relics  arranged  in  a  row,  sur- 
rounded by  the  weeping,  shrieking,  howling  con- 
course. The  spectacle  was  frightful.  Here  were  all 
the  village  dead  of  the  last  twelve  years.  The 
priests,  connoisseurs  in  such  matters,  regarded  it  as 
a  display  of  mortality  so  edifying,  that  they  hastened 
to  summon  their  French  attendants  to  contemplate 
and  profit  by  it.  Each  family  reclaimed  its  own,  and 
immediately  addressed  itself  to  removing  what  re- 
mained of  flesh  from  the  bones.  These,  after  being 
tenderly  caressed,  with  tears  and  lamentations,  were 
wrapped  in  skins  and  adorned  with  pendent  robes  of 
fur.  In  the  belief  of  the  mourners,  they  were  sen- 
tient and  conscious.  A  soul  was  thought  still  to 
reside  in  them;1  and  to  this  notion,  very  general 
among  Indians,  is  in  no  small  degree  due  that 
extravagant  attachment  to  the  remains  of  their  dead, 
which  may  be  said  to  mark  the  race. 

These  relics  of  mortality,  together  with  the  recent 
corpses,  —  which  were  allowed  to  remain  entire,  but 
which  were  also  wrapped  carefully  in  furs,  —  were 
now  carried  to  one  of  the  largest  houses,  and  hung  to 
the  numerous  cross-poles,  which,  like  rafters,  sup- 


1  In  the  general  belief,  the  soul  took  flight  after  the  great  cere- 
mony was  ended.  Many  thought  that  there  were  two  souls,  one 
remaining  with  the  bones,  while  the  other  went  to  the  land  of 
spirits. 

VOL.    I.  —  11 


162  THE  FEAST  OF  THE  DEAD.  [1636. 

ported  the  roof.  Here  the  concourse  of  mourners 
seated  themselves  at  a  funeral  feast;  and,  as  the 
squaws  of  the  household  distributed  the  food,  a  chief 
harangued  the  assembly,  lamenting  the  loss  of  the 
deceased,  and  extolling  their  virtues.  This  solem- 
nity over,  the  mourners  began  their  march  for  Os- 
sossand,  the  scene  of  the  final  rite.  The  bodies 
remaining  entire  were  borne  on  a  kind  of  litter,  while 
the  bundles  of  bones  were  slung  at  the  shoulders  of 
the  relatives,  like  fagots.  Thus  the  procession  slowly 
defiled  along  the  forest  pathways,  with  which  the 
country  of  the  Hurons  was  everywhere  intersected; 
and  as  they  passed  beneath  the  dull  shadow  of  the 
pines,  they  uttered  at  intervals,  in  unison,  a  dreary, 
wailing  cry,  designed  to  imitate  the  voices  of  disem- 
bodied souls  winging  their  way  to  the  land  of  spirits, 
and  believed  to  have  an  effect  peculiarly  soothing  to 
the  conscious  relics  which  each  man  bore.  When,  at 
night,  they  stopped  to  rest  at  some  -village  on  the 
way,  the  inhabitants  came  forth  to  welcome  them 
with  a  grave  and  mournful  hospitality. 

From  every  town  of  the  Nation  of  the  Bear,  — 
except  the  rebellious  few  that  had  seceded,  —  proces- 
sions like  this  were  converging  towards  Ossossane'. 
This  chief  town  of  the  Hurons  stood  on  the  eastern 
margin  of  Nottawassaga  Bay,  encompassed  with  a 
gloomy  wilderness  of  fir  and  pine.  Thither,  on  the 
urgent  invitation  of  the  chiefs,  the  Jesuits  repaired. 
The  capacious  bark  houses  were  filled  to  overflowing, 
and  the  surrounding  woods  gleamed  with  camp-fires : 


1636.]  THE   GREAT   SEPULCHRE.  163 

for  the  processions  of  mourners  were  fast  arriving, 
and  the  throng  was  swelled  by  invited  guests  of  other 
tribes.  Funeral  games  were  in  progress,  the  young 
men  and  women  practising  archery  and  other  exer- 
cises, for  prizes  offered  by  the  mourners  in  the  name 
of  their  dead  relatives.1  Some  of  the  chiefs  con- 
ducted Brebeuf  and  his  companions  to  the  place  pre- 
pared for  the  ceremony.  It  was  a  cleared  area  in  the 
forest,  many  acres  in  extent.  In  the  midst  was  a  pit, 
about  ten  feet  deep  and  thirty  feet  wide.  Around  it 
was  reared  a  high  and  strong  scaffolding ;  and  on  this 
were  planted  numerous  upright  poles,  with  cross- 
poles  extended  between,  for  hanging  the  funeral  gifts 
and  the  remains  of  the  dead. 

Meanwhile  there  was  a  long  delay.  The  Jesuits 
were  lodged  in  a  house  where  more  than  a  hundred 
of  these  bundles  of  mortality  were  hanging  from  the 
rafters.  Some  were  mere  shapeless  rolls;  others 
were  made  up  into  clumsy  effigies,  adorned  with 
feathers,  beads,  and  belts  of  dyed  porcupine-quills. 
Amidst  this  throng  of  the  living  and  the  dead,  the 
priests  spent  a  night  which  the  imagination  and  the 
senses  conspired  to  render  almost  insupportable. 

At  length  the  officiating  chiefs  gave  the  word  to 
prepare  for  the  ceremony.  The  relics  were  taken 
down,  opened  for  the  last  time,  and  the  bones  ca- 
ressed and  fondled  by  the  women  amid  paroxysms  of 

1  Funeral  games  were  not  confined  to  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois : 
Perrot  mentions  having  seen  them  among  the  Ottawas.  An  illus- 
trated description  of  them  will  be  found  in  Lafitau. 


164  THE  FEAST   OF  THE  DEAD.  [1636. 

lamentation.1  Then  all  the  processions  were  formed 
anew,  and,  each  bearing  its  dead,  moved  towards  the 
area  prepared  for  the  last  solemn  rites.  As  they 
reached  the  ground,  they  defiled  in  order,  each  to  a 
spot  assigned  to  it,  on  the  outer  limits  of  the  clearing. 
Here  the  bearers  of  the  dead  laid  their  bundles  on  the 
ground,  while  those  who  carried  the  funeral  gifts  out- 
spread and  displayed  them  for  the  admiration  of  the 
beholders.  Their  number  was  immense,  and  their 
value  relatively  very  great.  Among  them  were  many 
robes  of  beaver  and  other  rich  furs,  collected  and  pre- 
served for  years,  with  a  view  to  this  festival.  Fires 
were  now  lighted,  kettles  slung,  and,  around  the 
entire  circle  of  the  clearing,  the  scene  was  like  a  fair 
or  caravansary.  This  continued  till  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  when  the  gifts  were  repacked,  and  the 
bones  shouldered  afresh.  Suddenly,  at  a  signal  from 
the  chiefs,  the  crowd  ran  forward  from  every  side 
towards  the  scaffold,  like  soldiers  to  the  assault  of  a 
town,  scaled  it  by  rude  ladders  with  which  it  was 
furnished,  and  hung  their  relics  and  their  gifts  to 
the  forest  of  poles  which  surmounted  it.  Then  the 

i  "  I'admiray  la  tendresse  d'vne  femme  enuers  son  pere  et  sea 
enf ans ;  elle  est  fille  d'vn  Capitaine,  qui  est  mort  fort  age,  et  a  este 
autrefois  fort  considerable  dans  le  Pa'is :  elle  luy  peignoit  sa  cheue- 
lure,  elle  manioit  ses  os  les  vns  apres  les  autres,  auec  la  mesme 
affection  que  si  elle  luy  eust  voulu  rendre  la  vie ;  elle  luy  mit  aupres 
de  luy  son  AtsatoneSai,  c'est  k  dire  son  pacquet  de  buchettes  de 
Conseil,  qui  sont  tous  les  liures  et  papiers  du  Pa'is.  Pour  ses  petits 
enf  ans,  elle  leur  mit  des  brasselets  de  Pourcelaine  et  de  rassade  aux 
bras,  et  baigna  leurs  os  de  ses  larmes ;  on  ne  1'en  pouuoit  quasi 
separer,  mais  on  pressoit,  et  il  fallut  incontinent  partir."  —  Brelieuf, 
Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  134. 


1636.]  FRENZY  OF  THE  MOURNERS.  165 

ladders  were  removed ;  and  a  number  of  chiefs,  stand- 
ing on  the  scaffold,  harangued  the  crowd  below, 
praising  the  dead,  and  extolling  the  gifts,  which  the 
relatives  of  the  departed  now  bestowed,  in  their 
names,  upon  their  surviving  friends. 

During  these  harangues,  other  functionaries  were 
lining  the  grave  throughout  with  rich  robes  of 
beaver-skin.  Three  large  copper  kettles  were  next 
placed  in  the  middle,1  and  then  ensued  a  scene  of 
hideous  confusion.  The  bodies  which  had  been  left 
entire  were  brought  to  the  edge  of  the  grave,  flung 
in,  and  arranged  in  order  at  the  bottom  by  ten  or 
twelve  Indians  stationed  there  for  the  purpose,  amid 
the  wildest  excitement  and  the  uproar  of  many  hun- 
dred mingled  voices.2  When  this  part  of  the  work 
was  done,  night  was  fast  closing  in.  The  concourse 
bivouacked  around  the  clearing,  and  lighted  their 
camp-fires  under  the  brows  of  the  forest  which  hedged 
in  the  scene  of  the  dismal  solemnity.  Brdbeuf  and 
his  companions  withdrew  to  the  village,  where,  an 
hour  before  dawn,  they  were  roused  by  a  clamor 
which  might  have  awakened  the  dead.  One  of  the 
bundles  of  bones,  tied  to  a  pole  on  the  scaffold,  had 

1  In  some  of  these  graves,  recently  discovered,  five  or  six  large 
copper  kettles  have  been  found,  in  a  position  corresponding  with 
the  account  of  Brebeuf.    In  one,  there  were  no  less  than  twenty-six 
kettles. 

2  "  lamais  rien  ne  m'a  mieux  figure  la  confusion  qui  est  parmy 
les  damnez.    Vous  eussiez  veu  decharger  de  tous  costez  des  corps  a 
demy  pourris,  et  de  tous  costez  on  entendoit  vn  horrible  tintamarre 
de  voix  confuses  de  personnes  qui  parloient  et  ne  s'entendoient 
pas."  —  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  135. 


166  THE  FEAST   OF  THE  DEAD.  [1636. 

chanced  to  fall  into  the  grave.  This  accident  had  pre- 
cipitated the  closing  act,  and  perhaps  increased  its 
frenzy.  Guided  by  the  unearthly  din,  and  the  broad 
glare  of  flames  fed  with  heaps  of  fat  pine  logs,  the 
priests  soon  reached  the  spot,  and  saw  what  seemed, 
in  their  eyes,  an  image  of  Hell.  All  around  blazed 
countless  fires,  and  the  air  resounded  with  discordant 
outcries.1  The  naked  multitude,  on,  under,  and 
around  the  scaffold,  were  flinging  the  remains  of  their 
dead,  discharged  from  their  envelopments  of  skins, 
pell-mell  into  the  pit,  where  Bre*beuf  discerned  men 
who,  as  the  ghastly  shower  fell  around  them,  arranged 
the  bones  in  their  places  with  long  poles.  All  was 
soon  over;  earth,  logs,  and  stones  were  cast  upon  the 
grave,  and  the  clamor  subsided  into  a  funereal  chant, 

—  so  dreary  and  lugubrious,   that  it  seemed  to  the 
Jesuits  the  wail  of  despairing  souls  from  the  abyss  of 
perdition.2 

1  "Approchans,  nous  vismes  tout  a  fait  une  image  del'Enfer: 
cette  grande  place  estoit  toute  remplie  de  feux  &  de  flammes,  &  1'air 
retentissoit  de  toutes  parts  des  voix  confuses  de  ces  Barbares,"  etc. 

—  Br^beuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  209  (Cramoisy). 

2  "  Se  mirent  a  chanter,  mais  d'un  ton  si  lamentable  &  si  lugubre, 
qu'il  nous  representoit  1'horrible  tristesse  &  1'abysme  du  desespoir 
dans  lequel  sont  plonge'es  pour  iamais  ces  ames  malheureuses."  — 
Ibid.,  210. 

For  other  descriptions  of  these  rites,  see  Charlevoix,  Bressani, 
Du  Creux,  and  especially  Lafitau,  in  whose  works  they  are  illustra- 
ted with  engravings.  In  one  form  or  another,  they  were  widely 
prevalent.  Bartram  found  them  among  the  Floridian  tribes. 
Traces  of  a  similar  practice  have  been  observed  in  recent  times 
among  the  Dacotahs.  Remains  of  places  of  sepulture,  evidently  of 
kindred  origin,  have  been  found  in  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Kentucky, 
and  Ohio.  Many  have  been  discovered  in  several  parts  of  New 


1636.]  THE  IROQUOIS  PRISONER.  167 

Such  was  the  origin  of  one  of  those  strange  sepul- 
chres which  are  the  wonder  and  perplexity  of  the 

York,  especially  near  the  river  Niagara.  (See  Squier,  Aboriginal 
Monuments  of  New  York.)  This  was  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
ancient  territory  of  the  Neuters.  One  of  these  deposits  is  said  to 
have  contained  the  bones  of  several  thousand  individuals.  There 
is  a  large  mound  on  Tonawanda  Island,  said  fey  the  modern  Senecas 
to  be  a  Neuter  burial-place.  (See  Marshall,  Historical  Sketches  of 
the  Niagara  Frontier,  8.)  In  Canada  West,  they  are  found  through- 
out the  region  once  occupied  by  the  Neuters,  and  are  frequent  in 
the  Huron  district. 

Dr.  Tache  writes  to  me,  —  "I  have  inspected  sixteen  bone-pits  "  (in 
the  Huron  country),  "  the  situation  of  which  is  indicated  on  the 
little  pencil  map  I  send  you.  They  contain  from  six  hundred  to 
twelve  hundred  skeletons  each,  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages,  all  mixed 
together  purposely.  With  one  exception,  these  pits  also  contain 
pipes  of  stone  or  clay,  small  earthen  pots,  shells,  and  wampum 
wrought  of  these  shells,  copper  ornaments,  beads  of  glass,  and  other 
trinkets.  Some  pits  contained  articles  of  copper  of  aboriginal  Mexi- 
can fabric." 

This  remarkable  fact,  together  with  the  frequent  occurrence  in 
these  graves  of  large  conch-shells,  of  which  wampum  was  made,  and 
which  could  have  been  procured  only  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  or 
some  part  of  the  southern  coast  of  the  United  States,  proves  the 
extent  of  the  relations  of  traffic  by  which  certain  articles  were 
passed  from  tribe  to  tribe  over  a  vast  region.  The  transmission  of 
pipes  from  the  famous  Red  Pipe-Stone  Quarry  of  the  St.  Peter's  to 
tribes  more  than  a  thousand  miles  distant  is  an  analogous  modern 
instance,  though  much  less  remarkable. 

The  Tache'  Museum,  at  the  Laval  University  of  Quebec,  contains 
a  large  collection  of  remains  from  these  graves.  In  one  instance, 
the  human  bones  are  of  a  size  that  may  be  called  gigantic. 

In  nearly  every  case,  the  Huron  graves  contain  articles  of  use 
or  ornaments  of  European  workmanship.  From  this  it  may  be 
inferred  that  the  nation  itself,  or  its  practice  of  inhumation,  does 
not  date  back  to  a  period  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  French. 

The  Northern  Algonquins  had  also  a  solemn  Feast  of  the  Dead ; 
but  it  was  widely  different  from  that  of  the  Hurons.  See  the  very 
curious  account  of  it  by  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1642,  94. 
95. 


168  THE  FEAST  OF  THE  DEAD.  [1637. 

modern    settler    in    the    abandoned   forests   of    the 
Hurons. 

The  priests  were  soon  to  witness  another  and  a 
more  terrible  rite,  yet  one  in  which  they  found  a  con- 
solation, since  it  signalized  the  saving  of  a  soul,  — 
the  snatching  from  perdition  of  one  of  that  dreaded 
race,  into  whose  very  midst  they  hoped,  with  devoted 
daring,  to  bear  hereafter  the  cross  of  salvation.  A 
band  of  Huron  warriors  had  surprised  a  small  party 
of  Iroquois,  killed  several,  and  captured  the  rest. 
One  of  the  prisoners  was  led  in  triumph  to  a  village 
where  the  priests  then  were.  He  had  suffered 
greatly ;  his  hands,  especially,  were  frightfully  lacer- 
ated. Now,  however,  he  was  received  with  every 
mark  of  kindness.  "Take  courage,"  said  a  chief, 
addressing  him;  "you  are  among  friends."  The 
best  food  was  prepared  for  him,  and  his  captors  vied 
with  each  other  in  offices  of  good- will.1  He  had  been 
given,  according  to  Indian  custom,  to  a  warrior  who 
had  lost  a  near  relative  in  battle,  and  the  captive  was 
supposed  to  be  adopted  in  place  of  the  slain.  His 
actual  doom  was,  however,  not  for  a  moment  in 
doubt.  The  Huron  received  him  affectionately,  and, 
having  seated  him  in  his  lodge,  addressed  him  in  a 
tone  of  extreme  kindness.  "My  nephew,  when  I 
heard  that  you  were  coming,  I  was  very  glad,  think- 
ing that  you  would  remain  with  me  to  take  the  place 

i  This  pretended  kindness  in  the  treatment  of  a  prisoner  destined 
to  the  torture  was  not  exceptional.  The  Hurons  sometimes  even 
Supplied  their  intended  victim  with  a  temporary  wife. 


1637.]  THE  SACRIFICE.  169 

of  him  I  have  lost.  But  now  that  I  see  your  condi- 
tion, and  your  hands  crushed  and  torn  so  that  you 
will  never  use  them,  I  change  my  mind.  Therefore 
take  courage,  and  prepare  to  die  to-night  like  a  brave 
man." 

The  prisoner  coolly  asked  what  should  be  the  man- 
ner of  his  death. 

"By  fire,"  was  the  reply. 

"It  is  well,"  returned  the  Iroquois. 

Meanwhile,  the  sister  of  the  slain  Huron,  in  whose 
place  the  prisoner  was  to  have  been  adopted,  brought 
him  a  dish  of  food,  and,  her  eyes  flowing  with  tears, 
placed  it  before  him  with  an  air  of  the  utmost  tender- 
ness; while,  at  the  same  time,  the  warrior  brought 
him  a  pipe,  wiped  the  sweat  from  his  brow,  and 
fanned  him  with  a  fan  of  feathers. 

About  noon,  he  gave  his  farewell  feast,  after  the 
custom  of  those  who  knew  themselves  to  be  at  the 
point  of  death.  All  were  welcome  to  this  strange 
banquet;  and  when  the  company  were  gathered,  the 
host  addressed  them  in  a  loud,  firm  voice:  "My 
brothers,  I  am  about  to  die.  Do  your  worst  to  me. 
I  do  not  fear  torture  or  death."  Some  of  those  pres- 
ent seemed  to  have  visitings  of  real  compassion ;  and 
a  woman  asked  the  priests  if  it  would  be  wrong  to 
kill  him,  and  thus  save  him  from  the  fire. 

The  Jesuits  had  from  the  first  lost  no  opportunity 
of  accosting  him;  while  he,  grateful  for  a  genuine 
kindness  amid  the  cruel  hypocrisy  that  surrounded 
him,  gave  them  an  attentive  ear,  till  at  length, 


170  THE  FEAST  OF  THE  DEAD.  [1637. 

satisfied  with  his  answers,  they  baptized  him. 
His  eternal  bliss  secure,  all  else  was  as  nothing; 
and  they  awaited  the  issue  with  some  degree  of 
composure. 

A  crowd  had  gathered  from  all  the  surrounding 
towns,  and  after  nightfall  the  presiding  chief  har- 
angued them,  exhorting  them  to  act  their  parts  well 
in  the  approaching  sacrifice,  since  they  would  be 
looked  upon  by  the  Sun  and  the  God  of  War.1  It  is 
needless  to  dwell  on  the  scene  that  ensued.  It  took 
place  in  the  lodge  of  the  great  war-chief,  Atsan. 
Eleven  fires  blazed  on  the  ground,  along  the  middle 
of  this  capacious  dwelling.  The  platforms  on  each 
side  were  closely  packed  with  spectators;  and,  be- 
twixt these  and  the  fires,  the  younger  warriors  stood 
in  lines,  each  bearing  lighted  pine-knots  or  rolls  of 
birch-bark.  The  heat,  the  smoke,  the  glare  of  flames, 
the  wild  yells,  contorted  visages,  and  furious  gestures 
of  these  human  devils,  as  their  victim,  goaded  by 
their  torches,  bounded  through  the  fires  again  and 
again,  from  end  to  end  of  the  house,  transfixed  the 
priests  with  horror.  But  when,  as  day  dawned,  the 
last  spark  of  life  had  fled,  they  consoled  themselves 
with  the  faith  that  the  tortured  wretch  had  found  his 
rest  at  last  in  Paradise.2 

1  Areskoui  (see  Introduction).    He  was  often  regarded  as  iden- 
tical with  the  Sun.     The  semi-sacrificial  character  of  the  torture  in 
this  case  is  also  shown  by  the  injunction,  "  que  pour  ceste  nuict  on 
n'allast  point  f  olastrer  dans  les  bois."  —  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des 
Hurons,  1637,  114. 

2  Le  Mercier's  long  and  minute  account  of  the  torture  of  this 


1637.]  THE    SACRIFICE.  171 

prisoner  is  too  revolting  to  be  dwelt  upon.  One  of  the  most 
atrocious  features  of  the  scene  was  the  alternation  of  raillery 
and  ironical  compliment  which  attended  it  throughout,  as  well 
as  the  pains  taken  to  preserve  life  and  consciousness  in  the  vic- 
tim as  long  as  possible.  Portions  of  his  flesh  were  afterwards 
devoured. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1636,  1637. 
THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT, 

ENTHUSIASM  FOR  THE  MISSION.  —  SICKNESS  or  THE  PRIESTS.  —  THE 
PEST  AMONG  THE  HURONS.  —  THE  JESUIT  ON  HIS  ROUNDS. — 
EFFORTS  AT  CONVERSION.  —  PRIESTS  AND  SORCERERS.  —  THE 
MAN-DEVIL.  —  THE  MAGICIAN'S  PRESCRIPTION.  —  INDIAN  DOC- 
TORS AND  PATIENTS.  —  COVERT  BAPTISMS.  —  SELF-DEVOTION  OP 
THE  JESUITS. 

MEANWHILE,  from  Old  France  to  New  came  suc- 
cors and  reinforcements  to  the  missions  of  the  forest. 
More  Jesuits  crossed  the  sea  to  urge  on  the  work  of 
conversion.  These  were  no  stern  exiles,  seeking  on 
barbarous  shores  an  asylum  for  a  persecuted  faith. 
Rank,  wealth,  power,  and  royalt}*-  itself  smiled  on 
their  enterprise,  and  bade  them  God-speed.  Yet, 
withal,  a  fervor  more  intense,  a  self-abnegation  more 
complete,  a  self-devotion  more  constant  and  enduring 
will  scarcely  find  its  record  on  the  page  of  human 
history. 

Holy  Mother  Church,  linked  in  sordid  wedlock  to 
governments  and  thrones,  numbered  among  her  ser- 
vants a  host  of  the  worldly  and  the  proud,  whose  ser- 
vice of  God  was  but  the  service  of  themselves,  —  and 
many,  too,  who,  in  the  sophistry  of  the  human  heart, 


1636.]          ENTHUSIASM  FOR   THE  MISSION.          173 

thought  themselves  true  soldiers  of  Heaven,  while 
earthly  pride,  interest,  and  passion  were  the  life- 
springs  of  their  zeal.  This  mighty  Church  of  Rome, 
in  her  imposing  march  along  the  high  road  of  history, 
heralded  as  infallible  and  divine,  astounds  the  gazing 
world  with  prodigies  of  contradiction,  —  now  the 
protector  of  the  oppressed,  now  the  right  arm  of 
tyrants;  now  breathing  charity  and  love,  now  dark 
with  the  passions  of  Hell ;  now  beaming  with  celes- 
tial truth,  now  masked  in  hypocrisy  ^,nd  lies ;  now  a 
virgin,  now  a  harlot;  an  imperial  queen,  and  a  tin- 
selled actress.  Clearly,  she  is  of  earth,  not  of 
heaven;  and  her  transcendently  dramatic  life  is  a 
type  of  the  good  and  ill,  the  baseness  and  nobleness, 
the  foulness  and  purity,  the  love  and  hate,  the  pride, 
passion,  truth,  falsehood,  fierceness,  and  tenderness, 
that  battle  in  the  restless  heart  of  man. 

It  was  her  nobler  and  purer  part  that  gave  life  to 
the  early  missions  of  New  France.  That  gloomy 
wilderness,  those  hordes  of  savages,  had  nothing  to 
tempt  the  ambitious,  the  proud,  the  grasping,  or  the 
indolent.  Obscure  toil,  solitude,  privation,  hardship, 
and  death  were  to  be  the  missionary's  portion.  He 
who  set  sail  for  the  country  of  the  Hurons  left  behind 
him  the  world  and  all  its  prizes.  True,  he  acted 
under  orders,  —  obedient,  like  a  soldier,  to  the  word 
of  command;  but  the  astute  Society  of  Jesus  knew 
its  members,  weighed  each  in  the  balance,  gave  each 
his  fitting  task;  and  when  the  word  was  passed  to 
embark  for  New  France,  it  was  but  the  response  to  a 


174  THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT.          [1636. 

secret  longing  of  the  fervent  heart.  The  letters  of 
these  priests,  departing  for  the  scene  of  their  labors, 
breathe  a  spirit  of  enthusiastic  exaltation,  which,  to  a 
colder  nature  and  a  colder  faith,  may  sometimes  seem 
overstrained,  but  which  is  in  no  way  disproportionate 
to  the  vastness  of  the  effort  and  the  sacrifice  de- 
manded of  them.1 

All  turned  with  longing  eyes  towards  the  mission 
of  the  Hurons ;  for  here  the  largest  harvest  promised 
to  repay  their  labor,  and  here  hardships  and  dangers 
most  abounded.  Two  Jesuits,  Pijart  and  Le  Mer- 

1  The  following  are  passages  from  letters  of  missionaries  at  this 
time.  See  "  Divers  Sentimens,"  appended  to  the  Relation  of  1635. 

"  On  dit  que  les  premiers  qui  fondent  les  Eglises  d'ordinaire  sont 
saincts :  cette  pense'e  m'attendrit  si  fort  le  cceur,  que  quoy  que  ie 
me  voye  icy  fort  inutile  dans  ceste  fortune'e  Nouuelle  France,  si 
faut-il  que  i'auoiie  que  ie  ne  me  sfaurois  defendre  d'vne  pensee  qui 
me  presse  le  cceur :  Cupio  impendi,  et  superimpendi  pro  vobis,  Pauure 
Nouuelle  France,  ie  desire  me  sacrifier  pour  ton  bien,  et  quand  il 
me  deuroit  couster  mille  vies,  moyennant  que  ie  puisse  aider  a  sauuer 
vne  seule  ame,  ie  seray  trop  heureux,  et  ma  vie  tres  bien  employee." 

"  Ma  consolation  parmy  les  Hurons,  c'est  que  tous  les  iours  ie  me 
confesse,  et  puis  ie  dis  la  Messe,  comme  si  ie  deuois  prendre  le 
Viatique  et  mourir  ce  iour  Ik,  et  ie  ne  crois  pas  qu'on  puisse  mieux 
viure,  ny  auec  plus  de  satisfaction  et  de  courage,  et  mesme  de 
merites,  que  viure  en  un  lieu,  oh  on  pense  pouuoir  mourir  tous  les 
iours,  et  auoir  la  deuise  de  S.  Paul,  Quotidie  morior,fratres,  etc.  mes 
freres,  ie  fais  estat  de  mourir  tous  les  iours." 

"  Que  ne  void  la  Nouuelle  France  que  par  les  yeux  de  chair  et  de 
nature,  il  n'y  void  que  des  bois  et  des  croix ;  mais  qui  les  considere 
auec  les  yeux  de  la  grace  et  d'vne  bonne  vocation,  il  n'y  void  que 
Dieu,  les  vertus  et  les  graces,  et  on  y  trouue  tant  et  de  si  solides 
consolations,  que  si  ie  pouuois  acheter  la  Nouuelle  France,  en  don- 
nant  tout  le  Paradis  Terrestre,  certainement  ie  1'acheterois.  Mon 
Dieu,  qu'il  fait  bon  estre  au  lieu  ou  Dieu  nous  a  mis  de  sa  grace ! 
veritablement  i'ay  trouue  icy  ce  que  i'auois  espere,  vn  cceur  selon 
le  cceur  de  Dieu,  qui  ne  cherche  que  Dieu." 


1636-37.]     PESTILENCE  AMONG  THE  HURONS.      175 

cier,  had  been  sent  thither  in  1635 ;  and  in  midsum- 
mer of  the  next  year  three  more  arrived,  —  Jogues, 
Chatelain,  and  Gamier.  When,  after  their  long  and 
lonely  journey,  they  reached  Ihonatiria  one  by  one, 
they  were  received  by  their  brethren  with  scanty  fare 
indeed,  but  with  a  fervor  of  affectionate  welcome 
which  more  than  made  amends;  for  among  these 
priests,  united  in  a  community  of  faith  and  enthusi- 
asm, there  was  far  more  than  the  genial  comradeship 
of  men  joined  in  a  common  enterprise  of  self-devotion 
and  peril.1  On  their  way,  they  had  met  Daniel  and 
Davost  descending  to  Quebec,  to  establish  there  a 
seminary  of  Huron  children,  —  a  project  long  cher- 
ished by  Bre*beuf  and  his  companions. 

Scarcely  had  the  new-comers  arrived,  when  they 
were  attacked  by  a  contagious  fever,  which  turned 
their  mission-house  into  a  hospital.  Jogues,  Gamier, 
and  Chatelain  fell  ill  in  turn ;  and  two  of  their  domes- 
tics also  were  soon  prostrated,  though  the  only  one  of 
the  number  who  could  hunt  fortunately  escaped. 
Those  who  remained  in  health  attended  the  sick,  and 
the  sufferers  vied  with  each  other  in  efforts  often 
beyond  their  strength  to  relieve  their  companions  in 


1  "  Ie  luy  preparay  de  ce  que  nous  auions,  pour  le  receuoir,  mais 
quel  festin  !  vne  poignee  de  petit  poisson  sec  auec  vn  peu  de  farine ; 
i'enuoyay  chercher  quelques  nouueaux  espies,  que  nous  luy  fismes 
rostir  &  la  fa9on  du  pays  ;  mais  il  est  vray  que  dans  son  coeur  et  k 
Fentendre,  il  ne  fit  iamais  meilleure  chere.  La  ioye  qui  se  ressent 
k  ces  entreueues  semble  estre  quelque  image  du  contentement  des 
bien-heureux  a  leur  arriuee  dans  le  Ciel,  tant  elle  est  pleine  de 
suauite."  —  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  106, 


176          THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT.        [1636-37. 

misfortune.1  The  disease  in  no  case  proved  fatal; 
but  scarcely  had  health  begun  to  return  to  their 
household,  when  an  unforeseen  calamity  demanded 
the  exertion  of  all  their  energies. 

The  pestilence,  which  for  two  years  past  had  from 
time  to  time  visited  the  Huron  towns,  now  returned 
with  tenfold  violence,  and  with  it  soon  appeared  a 
new  and  fearful  scourge,  —  the  small-pox.  Terror 
was  universal.  The  contagion  increased  as  autumn 
advanced;  and  when  winter  came,  far  from  ceasing, 
as  the  priests  had  hoped,  its  ravages  were  appalling. 
The  season  of  Huron  festivity  was  turned  to  a  season 
of  mourning ;  and  such  was  the  despondency  and  dis- 
may, that  suicide  became  frequent.  The  Jesuits, 
singly  or  in  pairs,  journeyed  in  the  depth  of  winter 
from  village  to  village,  ministering  to  the  sick,  and 
seeking  to  commend  their  religious  teachings  by  their 
efforts  to  relieve  bodily  distress.  Happily,  perhaps, 
for  their  patients,  they  had  no  medicine  but  a  little 
senna.  A  few  raisins  were  left,  however;  and  one 
or  two  of  these,  with  a  spoonful  of  sweetened  water, 
were  always  eagerly  accepted  by  the  sufferers,  who 
thought  them  endowed  with  some  mysterious  and 
sovereign  efficacy.  No  house  was  left  unvisited.  As 
the  missionary,  physician  at  once  to  body  and  soul, 
entered  one  of  these  smoky  dens,  he  saw  the  inmates, 
their  heads  muffled  in  their  robes  of  skins,  seated 
around  the  fires  in  silent  dejection.  Everywhere  was 

1  Lettre  de  Brebeufau  T.  R.  P.  Mutio  Vitelleschi,  20  Mai,  1637,  in 
Carayon,  157.  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  120,  123. 


1636-37.]          THE  JESUIT  OX  HIS  ROUNDS.  177 

heard  the  wail  of  sick  and  dying  children;  and  on  or 
under  the  platforms  at  the  sides  of  the  house  crouched 
squalid  men  and  women,  in  all  the  stages  of  the  dis- 
temper. The  Father  approached,  made  inquiries, 
spoke  words  of  kindness,  administered  his  harmless 
remedies,  or  offered  a  bowl  of  broth  made  from  game 
brought  in  by  the  Frenchman  who  hunted  for  the 
mission.1  The  body  cared  for,  he  next  addressed 
himself  to  the  soul.  "This  life  is  short,  and  very 
miserable.  It  matters  little  whether  we  live  or  die." 
The  patient  remained  silent,  or  grumbled  his  dissent. 
The  Jesuit,  after  enlarging  for  a  time,  in  broken 
Huron,  on  the  brevity  and  nothingness  of  mortal 
weal  or  woe,  passed  next  to  the  joys  of  Heaven  and 
the  pains  of  Hell,  which  he  set  forth  with  his  best 
rhetoric.  His  pictures  of  infernal  fires  and  torturing 
devils  were  readily  comprehended,  if  the  listener  had 
consciousness  enough  to  comprehend  anything;  but 
with  respect  to  the  advantages  of  the  French  Para- 
dise, he  was  slow  of  conviction.  "I  wish  to  go 
where  my  relations  and  ancestors  have  gone,"  was  a 
common  reply.  "  Heaven  is  a  good  place  for  French- 
men," said  another;  "but  I  wish  to  be  among  In- 
dians, for  the  French  will  give  me  nothing  to  eat 
when  I  get  there."2  Often  the  patient  was  stolidly 

1  Game  was  so  scarce  in  the  Huron  country  that  it  was  greatly 
prized  as  a  luxury.     Le  Mercier  speaks  of  an  Indian,  sixty  years  of 
age,  who  walked  twelve  miles  to  taste  the  wild-fowl  killed  by  the 
French  hunter.    The  ordinary  food  was  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  and 
fish. 

2  It  was  scarcely  possible  to  convince  the  Indians  that  there  was 
VOL.  i.  — 12 


178         THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT.         [1636-37. 

silent ;  sometimes  he  was  hopelessly  perverse  and  con- 
tradictory. Again,  Nature  triumphed  over  Grace. 
"Which  will  you  choose,"  demanded  the  priest  of  a 
dying  woman,  "Heaven  or  Hell?"  "Hell,  if  my 
children  are  there,  as  you  say,"  returned  the  mother. 
"Do  they  hunt  in  Heaven,  or  make  war,  or  go  to 
feasts?"  asked  an  anxious  inquirer.  "Oh,  no!" 
replied  the  Father.  "Then,"  returned  the  querist, 
"I  will  not  go.  It  is  not  good  to  be  lazy."  But 
above  all  other  obstacles  was  the  dread  of  starvation 
in  the  regions  of  the  blest.  Nor,  when  the  dying 
Indian  had  been  induced  at  last  to  express  a  desire 
for  Paradise,  was  it  an  easy  matter  to  bring  him  to  a 
due  contrition  for  his  sins ;  for  he  would  deny  with 
indignation  that  he  had  ever  committed  any.  When 
at  length,  as  sometimes  happened,  all  these  difficul- 
ties gave  way,  and  the  patient  had  been  brought  to 
what  seemed  to  his  instructor  a  fitting  frame  for  bap- 
tism, the  priest,  with  contentment  at  his  heart, 
brought  water  in  a  cup  or  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand, 
touched  his  forehead  with  the  mystic  drop,  and 
snatched  him  from  an  eternity  of  woe.  But  the  con- 
vert, even  after  his  baptism,  did  not  always  manifest 
a  satisfactory  spiritual  condition.  "Why  did  you 
baptize  that  Iroquois?"  asked  one  of  the  dying  neo- 
phytes, speaking  of  the  prisoner  recently  tortured; 

but  one  God  for  themselves  and  the  whites.  The  proposition  was 
met  by  such  arguments  as  this  :  "  If  we  had  been  of  one  Father,  we 
should  know  how  to  make  knives  and  coats  as  well  as  you."  —  Le 
Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  147. 


1636-37.]  PRIESTS   AND  SORCERERS.  179 

"  he  will  get  to  Heaven  before  us,  and,  when  he  sees 
us  coming,  he  will  drive  us  out."1 

Thus  did  these  worthy  priests,  too  conscientious  to 
let  these  unfortunates  die  in  peace,  follow  them  with 
benevolent  persecutions  to  the  hour  of  their  death. 

It  was  clear  to  the  Fathers  that  their  ministrations 
were  valued  solely  because  their  religion  was  sup- 
posed by  many  to  be  a  "medicine,"  or  charm,  effica- 
cious against  famine,  disease,  and  death.  They 
themselves,  indeed,  firmly  believed  that  saints  and 
angels  were  always  at  hand  with  temporal  succors  for 
the  faithful.  At  their  intercession,  St.  Joseph  had 
interposed  to  procure  a  happy  delivery  to  a  squaw  in 
protracted  pains  of  childbirth;2  and  they  never 
doubted  that,  in  the  hour  of  need,  the  celestial 
powers  would  confound  the  unbeliever  with  interven- 
tion direct  and  manifest.  At  the  town  of  "Wenrio, 
the  people,  after  trying  in  vain  all  the  feasts,  dances, 
and  preposterous  ceremonies  by  which  their  medicine- 
men sought  to  stop  the  pest,  resolved  to  essay  the 
"medicine"  of  the  French,  and,  to  that  end,  called 
the  priests  to  a  council.  "What  must  we  do,  that 
your  God  may  take  pity  on  us?"  Brdbeuf's  answer 
was  uncompromising :  — 

"Believe  in  Him;  keep  His  commandments;  ab- 
jure your  faith  in  dreams ;  take  but  one  wife,  and  be 

1  Most  of  the  above  traits  are  drawn  from  Le.  Mercier's  report 
of  1637.     The  rest  are  from  Bre'beuf. 

2  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Ilurons,  1636,  89.    Another  woman  was 
delivered  on  touching  a  relic  of  St.  Ignatius.    Ibid.,  90. 


180  THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT.     [1636-37. 

true  to  her;  give  up  your  superstitious  feasts;  re- 
nounce your  assemblies  of  debauchery ;  eat  no  human 
flesh ;  never  give  feasts  to  demons ;  and  make  a  vow, 
that,  if  God  will  deliver  you  from  this  pest,  you 
will  build  a  chapel  to  offer  Him  thanksgiving  and 
praise."1 

The  terms  were  too  hard.  They  would  fain  bar- 
gain to  be  let  off  with  building  the  chapel  alone ;  but 
Bre*beuf  would  bate  them  nothing,  arid  the  council 
broke  up  in  despair. 

At  Ossossane",  a  few  miles  distant,  the  people,  in  a 
frenzy  of  terror,  accepted  the  conditions,  and  prom- 
ised to  renounce  their  superstitions  and  reform  their 
manners.  It  was  a  labor  of  Hercules,  a  cleansing  of 
Augean  stables ;  but  the  scared  savages  were  ready  to 
make  any  promise  that  might  stay  the  pestilence. 
One  of  their  principal  sorcerers  proclaimed  in  a  loud 
voice  through  the  streets  of  the  town  that  the  God  of 
the  French  was  their  master,  and  that  thenceforth  all 
must  live  according  to  His  will.  "What  consola- 
tion," exclaims  Le  Mercier,  "to  see  God  glorified  by 
the  lips  of  an  imp  of  Satan !  "  2 

Their  joy  was  short.  The  proclamation  was  on  the 
twelfth  of  December.  On  the  twenty-first,  a  noted 
sorcerer  came  to  Ossossane*.  He  was  of  a  dwarfish, 
hump-backed  figure,  —  most  rare  among  this  sym- 
metrical people,  — with  a  vicious  face,  and  a  dress 
consisting  of  a  torn  and  shabby  robe  of  beaver-skin. 

1  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  114,  116  (Cramoisy). 
">  Ibid.,  127,  128  (Cramoisy). 


1636-37.]       THE  MAGICIAN'S  PRESCRIPTION.       181 

Scarcely  had  he  arrived,  when,  with  ten  or  twelve 
other  savages,  he  ensconced  himself  in  a  kennel  of 
bark  made  for  the  occasion.  In  the  midst  were 
placed  several  stones,  heated  red-hot.  On  these  the 
sorcerer  threw  tobacco,  producing  a  stifling  fumiga- 
tion ;  in  the  midst  of  which,  for  a  full  half -hour,  he 
sang,  at  the  top  of  his  throat,  those  boastful,  yet 
meaningless,  rhapsodies  of  which  Indian  magical 
songs  are  composed.  Then  came  a  grand  "medicine- 
feast;  "  and  the  disappointed  Jesuits  saw  plainly  that 
the  objects  of  their  spiritual  care,  unwilling  to  throw 
away  any  chance  of  cure,  were  bent  on  invoking  aid 
from  God  and  the  Devil  at  once. 

The  hump-backed  sorcerer  became  a  thorn  in  the 
side  of  the  Fathers,  who  more  than  half  believed  his 
own  account  of  his  origin.  He  was,  he  said,  not  a 
man,  but  an  oki,  —  a  spirit,  or,  as  the  priests  rendered 
it,  a  demon,  —  and  had  dwelt  with  other  okies  under 
the  earth,  when  the  whim  seized  him  to  become  a 
man.  Therefore  he  ascended  to  the  upper  world,  in 
company  with  a  female  spirit.  They  hid  beside  a 
path,  and,  when  they  saw  a  woman  passing,  they 
entered  her  womb.  After  a  time  they  Avere  born, 
but  not  until  the  male  oki  had  quarrelled  with  and 
strangled  his  female  companion,  who  came  dead  into 
the  world.1  The  character  of  the  sorcerer  seems  to 
have  comported  reasonably  well  with  this  story  of  his 
origin.  He  pretended  to  have  an  absolute  control 

i  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  72  (Cramoisy).  This 
"  petit  sorcier  "  is  often  mentioned  elsewhere. 


182  THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT.    [1636-37. 

over  the  pestilence,  and  his  prescriptions  were  scru- 
pulously followed. 

He  had  several  conspicuous  rivals,  besides  a  host 
of  humbler  competitors.  One  of  these  magician- 
doctors,  who  was  nearly  blind,  made  for  himself  a 
kennel  at  the  end  of  his  house,  where  he  fasted  for 
seven  days.1  On  the  sixth  day  the  spirits  appeared, 
and,  among  other  revelations,  told  him  that  the  dis- 
ease could  be  frightened  away  by  means  of  images  of 
straw,  like  scarecrows,  placed  on  the  tops  of  the 
houses.  Within  forty-eight  hours  after  this  an- 
nouncement, the  roofs  of  Onnentisati  and  the  neigh- 
boring villages  were  covered  with  an  army  of  these 
effigies.  The  Indians  tried  to  persuade  the  Jesuits 
to  put  them  on  the  mission-house;  but  the  priests 
replied,  that  the  cross  before  their  door  was  a  better 
protector;  and,  for  further  security,  they  set  another 
on  their  roof,  declaring  that  they  would  rely  on  it  to 
save  them  from  infection.2  The  Indians,  on  their 
part,  anxious  that  their  scarecrows  should  do  their 
office  well,  addressed  them  in  loud  harangues  and 
burned  offerings  of  tobacco  to  them.3 

There  was  another  sorcerer,  whose  medical  practice 
was  so  extensive,  that,  unable  to  attend  to  all  his 
patients,  he  sent  substitutes  to  the  surrounding 
towns,  first  imparting  to  them  his  own  mysterious 

1  See  Introduction. 

2  "  Qu'en  vertu  de  ce  signe  nous  ne  redoutions  point  les  demons, 
et  esperions  que  Dieu  preserueroit  nostre  petite  maison  de  cette 
maladie  contagieuse."  —  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637, 150. 

8  Ibid.,  157. 


1636-37.]      INDIAN  DOCTORS  AND  PATIENTS.       183 

power.  One  of  these  deputies  came  to  Ossossan6 
while  the  priests  were  there.  The  principal  house 
was  thronged  with  expectant  savages,  anxiously  wait- 
ing his  arrival.  A  chief  carried  before  him  a  kettle 
of  mystic  water,  with  which  the  envoy  sprinkled  the 
company,1  at  the  same  time  fanning  them  with  the 
wing  of  a  wild  turkey.  Then  came  a  grand  medicine- 
feast,  followed  by  a  medicine-dance  of  women. 

Opinion  was  divided  as  to  the  nature  of  the  pest; 
but  the  greater  number  were  agreed  that  it  was  a 
malignant  oki,  who  came  from  Lake  Huron.2  As  it 
was  of  the  last  moment  to  conciliate  or  frighten  him, 
no  means  to  these  ends  were  neglected.  Feasts  were 
held  for  him,  at  which,  to  do  him  honor,  each  guest 
gorged  himself  like  a  vulture.  A  mystic  fraternity 
danced  with  firebrands  in  their  mouths ;  while  other 
dancers  wore  masks,  and  pretended  to  be  hump- 
backed. Tobacco  was  burned  to  the  Demon  of  the 
Pest,  no  less  than  to  the  scarecrows  which  were  to 
frighten  him.  A  chief  climbed  to  the  roof  of  a  house, 

1  The  idea  seems  to  have  been  taken  from  the  holy  water  of  the 
French.    Le  Mercier  says  that  a  Huron  who  had  been  to  Quebec 
once  asked  him  the  use  of  the  vase  of  water  at  the  door  of  the 
chapel.    The  priest  told  him  that  it  was  "  to  frighten  away  the 
devils."    On  this,  he  begged  earnestly  to  have  some  of  it. 

2  Many  believed  that  the  country  was  bewitched  by  wicked  sor- 
cerers, one  of  whom,  it  was  said,  had  been  seen  at  night  roaming 
around  the  villages,  vomiting  fire.     (Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons, 
1637,  134.)     This  superstition  of  sorcerers  vomiting  fire  was  com- 
mon among  the  Iroquois  of  New  York.    Others  held  that  a  sister  of 
^tienne  Brule'  caused  the  evil,  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  her 
brother,  murdered  some  years  before.     She  was  said  to  have  been 
seen  flying  over  the  country,  breathing  forth  pestilence. 


184  THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT.     [1636-37. 

and  shouted  to  the  invisible  monster,  "If  you  want 
flesh,  go  to  our  enemies,  go  to  the  Iroquois!"  — 
while,  to  add  terror  to  persuasion,  the  crowd  in  the 
dwelling  below  yelled  with  all  the  force  of  their  lungs, 
and  beat  furiously  with  sticks  on  the  walls  of  bark. 

Besides  these  public  efforts  to  stay  the  pestilence, 
the  sufferers,  each  for  himself,  had  their  own  meth- 
ods of  cure,  dictated  by  dreams  or  prescribed  by  estab- 
lished usage.  Thus  two  of  the  priests,  entering  a 
house,  saw  a  sick  man  crouched  in  a  corner,  while 
near  him  sat  three  friends.  Before  each  of  these  was 
placed  a  huge  portion  of  food,  —  enough,  the  witness 
declares,  for  four,  —  and  though  all  were  gorged  to 
suffocation,  with  starting  eyeballs  and  distended 
veins,  they  still  held  stanchly  to  their  task,  resolved 
at  all  costs  to  devour  the  whole,  in  order  to  cure  the 
patient,  who  meanwhile  ceased  not,  in  feeble  tones,  to 
praise  their  exertions,  and  implore  them  to  persevere.1 

Turning  from  these  eccentricities  of  the  "noble 
savage  " 2  to  the  zealots  who  were  toiling,  according 

1  "  En  fin  il  leur  fallut  rendre  gorge,  ce  qu'ils  firent  a  diuerses 
reprises,  ne  laissants  pas  pour  cela  de  continuer  a  vuider  leur  plat." 
—  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  142.     This  beastly  super- 
stition exists  in  some  tribes  at  the  present  day.     A  kindred  super- 
stition once  fell  under  the  writer's  notice,  in  the  case  of  a  wounded 
Indian,  who  begged  of  every  one  he  met  to  drink  a  large  bowl  of 
water,  in  order  that  he,  the  Indian,  might  be  cured. 

2  In  the  midst  of  these  absurdities  we  find  recorded  one  of  the 
best  traits  of  the  Indian  character.    At  Ihonatiria,  a  house  occu- 
pied by  a  family  of  orphan  children  was  burned  to  the  ground, 
leaving  the  inmates  destitute.    The  villagers  united  to  aid  them. 
Each  contributed  something,  and  they  were  soon  better  provided 
for  than  before. 


1636-37.]  COVERT  BAPTISM.  185 

to  their  light,  to  snatch  him  from  the  clutch  of  Satan, 
we  see  the  irrepressible  Jesuits  roaming  from  town  to 
town  in  restless  quest  of  subjects  for  baptism.  In 
the  case  of  adults,  they  thought  some  little  prepara- 
tion essential ;  but  their  efforts  to  this  end,  even  with 
the  aid  of  St.  Joseph,  whom  they  constantly  invoked,1 
were  not  always  successful;  and,  cheaply  as  they 
offered  salvation,  they  sometimes  failed  to  find  a 
purchaser.  With  infants,  however,  a  simple  drop  of 
water  sufficed  for  the  transfer  from  a  prospective  Hell 
to  an  assured  Paradise.  The  Indians,  who  at  first 
had  sought  baptism  as  a  cure,  now  began  to  regard  it 
as  a  cause  of  death;  and  when  the  priest  entered  a 
lodge  where  a  sick  child  lay  in  extremity,  the  scowl- 
ing parents  watched  him  with  jealous  distrust,  lest 
unawares  the  deadly  drop  should  be  applied.  The 
Jesuits  were  equal  to  the  emergency,  father  Le 
Mercier  will  best  tell  his  own  story :  — 

"On  the  third  of  May,  Father  Pierre  Pijart  bap- 
tized at  Anonatea  a  little  child  two  months  old,  in 
manifest  danger  of  death,  without  being  seen  by  the 
parents,  who  would  not  give  their  consent.  This  is 
the  device  which  he  used.  Our  sugar  does  wonders 

1  "C'est  nostre  refuge  ordinaire  en  semblables  necessitez,  et 
d'ordinaire  auec  tels  succez,  que  nous  auons  sujet  d'en  benir  Dieu  & 
iamais,  qui  nous  fait  cognoistre  en  cette  barbaric  le  credit  de  ce  S. 
Patriarche  aupres  de  son  infinie  misericorde."  —  Le  Mercier,  Relation 
des  Hurons,  1637, 153.  In  the  case  of  a  woman  at  Onnentisati, "  Dieu 
nous  inspira  de  luy  voue'r  quelques  Messes  en  1'honneur  de  S.  Joseph." 
The  effect  was  prompt.  In  half  an  hour  the  woman  was  ready  for 
baptism.  On  the  same  page  we  have  another  subject  secured  to 
Heaven,"  sans  doute  par  les  merites  du  glorieux  Patriarche  S.Joseph.'' 


186  THE  HURON  AND  THE  JESUIT.    [1636-37. 

for  us.  He  pretended  to  make  the  child  drink  a  little 
sugared  water,  and  at  the  same  time  dipped  a  finger 
in  it.  As  the  father  of  the  infant  began  to  suspect 
something,  and  called  out  to  him  not  to  baptize  it,  he 
gave  the  spoon  to  a  woman  who  was  near,  and  said 
to  her,  '  Give  it  to  him  yourself. '  She  approached 
and  found  the  child  asleep;  and  at  the  same  time 
Father  Pijart,  under  pretence  of  seeing  if  he  was 
really  asleep,  touched  his  face  with  his  wet  finger, 
and  baptized  him.  At  the  end  of  forty-eight  hours 
he  went  to  Heaven. 

"Some  days  before,  the  missionary  had  used  the 
same  device  (Industrie)  for  baptizing  a  little  boy  six 
or  seven  years  old.  His  father,  who  was  very  sick, 
had  several  times  refused  to  receive  baptism;  and 
when  asked  if  he  would  not  be  glad  to  have  his  son 
baptized,  he  had  answered,  No.  'At  least,'  said 
Father  Pijart,  '  you  will  not  object  to  my  giving  him 
a  little  sugar. '  '  No ;  but  you  must  not  baptize  him. ' 
The  missionary  gave  it  to  him  once ;  then  again ;  and 
at  the  third  spoonful,  before  he  had  put  the  sugar 
into  the  water,  he  let  a  drop  of  it  fall  on  the  child,  at 
the  same  time  pronouncing  the  sacramental  words. 
A  little  girl,  who  was  looking  at  him,  cried  out, 
4  Father,  he  is  baptizing  him ! '  The  child's  father 
was  much  disturbed ;  but  the  missionary  said  to  him, 
*  Did  you  not  see  that  I  was  giving  him  sugar  ?  '  The 
child  died  soon  after;  but  God  showed  His  grace  to 
the  father,  who  is  now  in  perfect  health." 1 

i  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  165.  Various  other 
cases  of  the  kind  are  mentioned  in  the  Relation. 


1636-37.]     SELF-DEVOTION  OF   THE  JESUITS.       187 

That  equivocal  morality,  lashed  by  the  withering 
satire  of  Pascal,  —  a  morality  built  on  the  doctrine 
that  all  means  are  permissible  for  saving  souls  from 
perdition,  and  that  sin  itself  is  no  sin  when  its  object 
is  the  "greater  glory  of  God," — 'found  far  less  scope 
in  the  rude  wilderness  of  the  Hurons  than  among  the 
interests,  ambitions,  and  passions  of  civilized  life. 
Nor  were  these  men,  chosen  from  the  purest  of  their 
Order,  personally  well  fitted  to  illustrate  the  capabili- 
ties of  this  elastic  system.  Yet  now  and  then,  by 
the  light  of  their  own  writings,  we  may  observe  that 
the  teachings  of  the  school  of  Loyola  had  not  been 
wholly  without  effect  in  the  formation  of  their  ethics. 

But  when  we  see  them,  in  the  gloomy  February  of 
1637,  and  the  gloomier  months  that  followed,  toiling 
on  foot  from  one  infected  town  to  another,  wading 
through  the  sodden  snow,  under  the  bare  and  drip- 
ping forests,  drenched  with  incessant  rains,  till  they 
descried  at  length  through  the  storm  the  clustered 
dwellings  of  some  barbarous  hamlet,  —  when  we  see 
them  entering,  one  after  another,  these  wretched 
abodes  of  misery  and  darkness,  and  all  for  one  sole 
end,  the  baptism  of  the  sick  and  dying,  we  may 
smile  at  the  futility  of  the  object,  but  we  must  needs 
admire  the  self-sacrificing  zeal  with  which  it  was 
pursued. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1637. 
CHARACTER  OF  THE   CANADIAN  JESUITS. 

JEAN  DE  BREBEUF. —  CHARLES  GARNIER.  —  JOSEPH  MARIE  CHAU- 
MONOT.  —  NOEL  CHABANEL.  —  ISAAC  JOGUES.  — OTHER  JESUITS. 
—  NATURE  OF  THEIR  FAITH.  —  SUPERNATURALISM. —  VISIONS. — 
MIRACLES. 

BEFORE  pursuing  farther  these  obscure,  but  note- 
worthy, scenes  in  the  drama  of  human  history,  it  will 
be  well  to  indicate,  so  far  as  there  are  means  of  doing 
so,  the  distinctive  traits  of  some  of  the  chief  actors. 
Mention  has  often  been  made  of  Bre*beuf,  —  that  mas- 
culine apostle  of  the  Faith, — the  Ajax  of  the  mis- 
sion. Nature  had  given  him  all  the  passions  of  a 
vigorous  manhood,  and  religion  had  crushed  them, 
curbed  them,  or  tamed  them  to  do  her  work,  —  like 
a  dammed-up  torrent,  sluiced  and  guided  to  grind 
and  saw  and  weave  for  the  good  of  man.  Beside 
him,  in  strange  contrast,  stands  his  co-laborer, 
Charles  Gamier.  Both  were  of  noble  birth  and  gen- 
tle nurture;  but  here  the  parallel  ends.  Garnier's 
face  was  beardless,  though  he  was  above  thirty  years 
old.  For  this  he  was  laughed  at  by  his  friends  in 
Paris,  but  admired  by  the  Indians,  who  thought  him 


1637.]  CHARLES  GARNIER.  189 

handsome.1  His  constitution,  bodily  or  mental,  was 
by  no  means  robust.  From  boyhood,  he  had  shown 
a  delicate  and  sensitive  nature,  a  tender  conscience, 
and  a  proneness  to  religious  emotion.  He  had  never 
gone  with  his  schoolmates  to  inns  and  other  places  of 
amusement,  but  kept  his  pocket-money  to  give  to 
beggars.  One  of  his  brothers  relates  of  him,  that, 
seeing  an  obscene  book,  he  bought  and  destroyed  it, 
lest  other  boys  should  be  injured  by  it.  He  had 
always  wished  to  be  a  Jesuit,  and,  after  a  novitiate 
which  is  described  as  most  edifying,  he  became  a  pro- 
fessed member  of  the  Order.  The  Church,  indeed, 
absorbed  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  this 
pious  family,  —  one  brother  being  a  Carmelite,  an- 
other a  Capuchin,  and  a  third  a  Jesuit,  while  there 
seems  also  to  have  been  a  fourth  under  vows.  Of 
Charles  Gamier  there  remain  twenty-four  letters, 
written  at  various  times  to  his  father  and  two  of  his 
brothers,  chiefly  during  his  missionary  life  among  the 
Hurons.  They  breathe  the  deepest  and  most  intense 
Roman  Catholic  piety,  and  a  spirit  enthusiastic,  yet 
sad,  as  of  one  renouncing  all  the  hopes  and  prizes  of 
the  world,  and  living  for  Heaven  alone.  The  affec- 
tions of  his  sensitive  nature,  severed  from  earthly 
objects,  found  relief  in  an  ardent  adoration  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.  With  none  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of 
rugged  manhood  he  entered,  not  only  without  hesita- 

1  "  C'est  pourquoi  j'ai  bien  gagne  a  quitter  la  France,  ou  vous 
me  fesiez  la  guerre  de  n'avoir  point  de  barbe;  car  c'est  ce  qui 
me  fait  estimer  beau  des  Sauvages."  —  Lettres  de  Gamier,  MSS. 


190       CHARACTER  OF  CANADIAN  JESUITS,    [1637. 

tion,  but  with  eagerness,  on  a  life  which  would  have 
tried  the  boldest;  and,  sustained  by  the  spirit  within 
him,  he  was  more  than  equal  to  it.  His  fellow- 
missionaries  thought  him  a  saint;  and  had  he  lived  a 
century  or  two  earlier,  he  would  perhaps  have  been 
canonized:  yet,  while  all  his  life  was  a  willing  mar- 
tyrdom, one  can  discern,  amid  his  admirable  virtues, 
some  slight  lingerings  of  mortal  vanity.  Thus,  in 
three  several  letters,  he  speaks  of  his. great  success 
in  baptizing,  and  plainly  intimates  that  he  had  sent 
more  souls  to  Heaven  than  the  other  Jesuits.1 

Next  appears  a  young  man  of  about  twenty-seven 
years,  Joseph  Marie  Chaumonot.  Unlike  Bre'beuf 
and  Gamier,  he  was  of  humble  origin,  —  his  father 
being  a  vine-dresser,  and  his  mother  the  daughter  of 
a  poor  village  schoolmaster.  At  an  early  age  they 
sent  him  to  Chatillon  on  the  Seine,  where  he  lived 
with  his  uncle,  a  priest,  who  taught  him  to  speak 
Latin,  and  awakened  his  religious  susceptibilities, 
which  were  naturally  strong.  This  did  not  prevent 
him  from  yielding  to  the  persuasions  of  one  of  his 

1  The  above  sketch  of  Gamier  is  drawn  from  various  sources. 
Observations  du  P.  Henri  de  St.  Joseph  Carme,  sur  son  Frere  le  P. 
Charles  Gamier,  MS.  — Abreye  de  la  Vie  du  R.  Pere  Charles  Gar- 
nier,  MS.  This  unpublished  sketch  bears  the  signature  of  the 
Jesuit  Ragueneau,  with  the  date  1652.  For  the  opportunity  of  con- 
sulting it  I  am  indebted  to  Rev.  Felix  Martin,  S.  J. — Lettres  du  P. 
Charles  Gamier,  MSS.  These  embrace  his  correspondence  from  the 
Huron  country,  and  are  exceedingly  characteristic  and  striking. 
There  is  another  letter  in  Carayon,  Premiere  Mission.  Garnier's 
family  was  wealthy,  as  well  as  noble.  Its  members  seem  to  have 
been  strongly  attached  to  each  other,  and  the  young  priest's 
father  was  greatly  distressed  at  his  departure  for  Canada. 


1637.]  JOSEPH  MARIE   CHAUMONOT.  191 

companions  to  run  off  to  Beaune,  a  town  of  Bur- 
gundy, where  the  fugitives  proposed  to  study  music 
under  the  Fathers  of  the  Oratory.  To  provide  funds 
for  the  journey,  he  stole  a  sum  of  about  the  value  of 
a  dollar  from  his  uncle,  the  priest.  This  act,  which 
seems  to  have  been  a  mere  peccadillo  of  boyish  levity, 
determined  his  future  career.  Finding  himself  in 
total  destitution  at  Beaune,  he  wrote  to  his  mother 
for  money,  and  received  in  reply  an  order  from  his 
father  to  come  home.  Stung  with  the  thought  of 
being  posted  as  a  thief  in  his  native  village,  he  re- 
solved not  to  do  so,  but  to  set  out  forthwith  on  a  pil- 
grimage to  Rome;  and  accordingly,  tattered  and 
penniless,  he  took  the  road  for  the  sacred  city.  Soon 
a  conflict  began  within  him  between  his  misery  and 
the  pride  which  forbade  him  to  beg.  The  pride  was 
forced  to  succumb.  He  begged  from  door  to  door; 
slept  under  sheds  by  the  wayside,  or  in  haystacks; 
and  now  and  then  found  lodging  and  a  meal  at  a 
convent.  Thus,  sometimes  alone,  sometimes  with 
vagabonds  whom  he  met  on  the  road,  he  made  his 
way  through  Savoy  and  Lombardy  in  a  pitiable  con- 
dition of  destitution,  filth,  and  disease.  At  length 
he  reached  Ancona,  when  the  thought  occurred  to 
him  of  visiting  the  Holy  House  of  Loretto,  and  im- 
ploring the  succor  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Nor  were 
his  hopes  disappointed.  He  had  reached  that  re- 
nowned shrine,  knelt,  paid  his  devotions,  and  offered 
his  prayer,  when,  as  he  issued  from  the  door  of  the 
chapel,  he  was  accosted  by  a  young  man,  whom  he 


192      CHARACTER  OF  CANADIAN  JESUITS.     [1637. 

conjectures  to  have  been  an  angel  descended  to  his 
relief,  and  who  was  probably  some  penitent  or  de- 
votee bent  on  works  of  charity  or  self-mortification. 
With  a  voice  of  the  greatest  kindness,  he  proffered 
his  aid  to  the  wretched  boy,  whose  appearance  was 
alike  fitted  to  awaken  pity  and  disgust.  The  con- 
quering of  a  natural  repugnance  to  filth,  in  the  inter- 
est of  charity  and  humility,  is  a  conspicuous  virtue 
in  most  of  the  Roman  Catholic  saints ;  and  whatever 
merit  may  attach  to  it  was  acquired  in  an  extraordi- 
nary degree  by  the  young  man  in  question.  Appar- 
ently, he  was  a  physician;  for  he  not  only  restored 
the  miserable  wanderer  to  a  condition  of  comparative 
decency,  but  cured  him  of  a  grievous  malady,  the 
result  of  neglect.  Chaumonot  went  on  his  way, 
thankful  to  his  benefactor,  and  overflowing  with  an 
enthusiasm  of  gratitude  to  Our  Lady  of  Loretto.1 

1  "  Si  la  moindre  dame  m'avoit  fait  rendre  ce  service  par  le  der- 
nier de  ses  valets,  n'aurois-je  pas  dus  lui  en  rendre  toutes  les  re- 
connoissances  possibles?  Et  si  apres  une  telle  charite  elle  s'etoit 
offerte  a  me  servir  toujours  de  mesme,  comment  aurois-je  du 
1'honorer,  lui  obeir,  1'aimer  toute  ma  vie !  Pardon,  Reine  des  Anges 
et  des  hommes !  pardon  de  ce  qu'apres  avoir  re9u  de  vous  tant  de 
marques,  par  lesquelles  vous  m'avez  convaincu  que  vous  m'avez 
adopte  pour  votre  fils,  j'ai  eu  1'ingratitude  pendant  des  annees 
entieres  de  me  comporter  encore  plutot  en  esclave  de  Satan  qu'en 
enfant  d'une  Mere  Vierge.  O  que  vous  6tes  bonne  et  charitable ! 
puisque  quelques  obstacles  que  mes  peche's  ayent  pu  mettre  a  vos 
graces,  vous  n'avez  jamais  cesse  de  m'attirer  au  bien ;  jusque  la 
que  vous  m'avez  fait  admettre  dans  la  Sainte  Compagnie  de  Jesus, 
votre  fils."  —  Chaumonot,  Vie,  20.  The  above  is  from  the  very 
curious  autobiography  written  by  Chaumonot,  at  the  command  of 
his  superior,  in  1688.  The  original  manuscript  is  at  the  Hotel  Dieu 
of  Quebec.  Mr.  Shea  has  printed  it. 


1637.]  JOSEPH  MARIE  CHAUMOXOT.  193 

As  he  journeyed  towards  Rome,  an  old  burgher,  at 
whose  door  he  had  begged,  employed  him  as  a  ser- 
vant. He  soon  became  known  to  a  Jesuit,  to  whom 
he  had  confessed  himself  in  Latin;  and  as  his  ac- 
quirements were  considerable  for  his  years,  he  was 
eventually  employed  as  teacher  of  a  low  class  in  one 
of  the  Jesuit  schools.  Nature  had  inclined  him  to  a 
life  of  devotion.  He  would  fain  be  a  hermit,  and,  to 
that  end,  practised  eating  green  ears  of  wheat;  but 
finding  he  could  not  swallow  them,  conceived  that  he 
had  mistaken  his  vocation.  Then  a  strong  desire 
grew  up  within  him  to  become  a  Recollet,  a  Capu- 
chin, or,  above  all,  a  Jesuit;  and  at  length  the  wish 
of  his  heart  was  answered.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Jesuit  novitiate.1  Soon 
after  its  close,  a  small  duodecimo  volume  was  placed 
in  his  hands.  It  was  a  Relation  of  the  Canadian 

1  His  age,  when  he  left  his  uncle,  the  priest,  is  not  mentioned. 
But  he  must  have  been  a  mere  child ;  for  at  the  end  of  his  novi- 
tiate he  had  forgotten  his  native  language,  and  was  forced  to  learn 
it  a  second  time. 

"  Jamais  y  eut-il  homme  sur  terre  plus  oblige  que  moi  a  la  Sainte 
Famille  de  Jesus,  de  Marie  et  de  Joseph !  Marie  en  me  guerissant 
de  ma  vilaine  galle  ou  teigne,  me  delivra  d'une  infinite  de  peines 
et  d'incommodites  corporelles,  que  cette  hideuse  maladie  qui  me 
rongeoit  m'avoit  cause.  Joseph  m'ayant  obtenu  la  grace  d'etre 
incorpore  a  un  corps  aussi  saint  qu'est  celui  des  Je'suites,  m'a  pre- 
serve d'une  infinite  de  miseres  spirituelles,  de  tentations  tres  dan- 
gereuses  et  de  pe'che's  tres  enormes.  Jesus  n'ayant  pas  permis  que 
j'entrasse  dans  aucun  autre  ordre  qu'en  celui  qu'il  honore  tout  a  la 
fois  de  son  beau  nom,  de  sa  douce  pre'sence  et  de  sa  protection ' 
spe'ciale.  O  Jesus  !  0  Marie  !  O  Joseph !  qui  meritoit  moins  que 
moi  vos  divines  faveurs,  et  envera  qui  avez  vous  e'te  plus  prodigue  ?  " 
—  Chaumonot,  Vie,  37. 

TOL.   I.  —  13 


194       CHARACTER  OF  CANADIAN  JESUITS.     [1637. 

mission,  and  contained  one  of  those  narratives  of 
Bre'beuf  which  have  been  often  cited  in  the  preceding 
pages.  Its  effect  was  immediate.  Burning  to  share 
those  glorious  toils,  the  young  priest  asked  to  be  sent 
to  Canada;  and  his  request  was  granted. 

Before  embarking,  he  set  out  with  the  Jesuit  Pon- 
cet,  who  was  also  destined  for  Canada,  on  a  pilgrim- 
age from  Rome  to  the  shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Loretto. 
They  journeyed  on  foot,  begging  alms  by  the  way. 
Chaumonot  was  soon  seized  with  a  pain  in  the  knee, 
so  violent  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  proceed.  At 
San  Severino,  where  they  lodged  with  the  Barnabites, 
he  bethought  him  of  asking  the  intercession  of  a  cer- 
tain poor  woman  of  that  place,  who  had  died  some 
time  before  with  the  reputation  of  sanctity.  Accord- 
ingly he  addressed  to  her  his  prayer,  promising  to 
publish  her  fame  on  every  possible  occasion,  if  she 
would  obtain  his  cure  from  God.1  The  intercession 
was  accepted;  the  offending  limb  became  sound 
again,  and  the  two  pilgrims  pursued  their  journey. 
They  reached  Loretto,  and  kneeling  before  the  Queen 
of  Heaven,  implored  her  favor  and  aid ;  while  Chau- 
monot, overflowing  with  devotion  to  this  celestial 
mistress  of  his  heart,  conceived  the  purpose  of  build- 
ing in  Canada  a  chapel  to  her  honor,  after  the  exact 
model  of  the  Holy  House  of  Loretto.  They  soon 
afterwards  embarked  together,  and  arrived  among 
the  Hurons  early  in  the  autumn  of  1639. 

1  "  Je  me  recommandai  a  elle  en  lui  promettant  de  la  faire  con- 
noitre  dans  toutes  les  occasions  que  j'en  aurois  jamais,  si  elle 
m'obtenoit  de  Dieu  ma  guerison."  —  Chaumonot,  Vie,  46. 


1637.]    NOEL  CHABANEL   AND  ISAAC  JOGUES.     195 

Noel  Chabanel  came  later  to  the  mission;  for  he 
did  not  reach  the  Huron  country  until  1643.  He 
detested  the  Indian  life,  —  the  smoke,  the  vermin, 
the  filthy  food,  the  impossibility  of  privacy.  He 
could  not  study  by  the  smoky  lodge-fire,  among  the 
noisy  crowd  of  men  and  squaws,  with  their  dogs,  and 
their  restless,  screeching  children.  He  had  a  natural 
inaptitude  to  learning  the  language,  and  labored  at  it 
for  five  years  with  scarcely  a  sign  of  progress.  The 
Devil  whispered  a  suggestion  into  his  ear :  Let  him 
procure  his  release  from  these  barren  and  revolting 
toils,  and  return  to  France,  where  congenial  and  use- 
ful employments  awaited  him.  Chabanel  refused  to 
listen;  and  when  the  temptation  still  beset  him,  he 
bound  himself  by  a  solemn  vow  to  remain  in  Canada 
to  the  day  of  his  death.1 

Isaac  Jogues  was  of  a  character  not  unlike  Garnier. 
Nature  had  given  him  no  especial  force  of  intellect  or 
constitutional  energy,  yet  the  man  was  indomitable 
and  irrepressible,  as  his  history  will  show. 

We  have  but  few  means  of  characterizing  the  re- 
maining priests  of  the  mission  otherwise  than  as  their 
traits  appear  on  the  field  of  their  labors.  Theirs  was 
no  faith  of  abstractions  and  generalities.  For  them, 
heaven  was  very  near  to  earth,  touching  and  mingling 
with  it  at  many  points.  On  high,  God  the  Father 
sat  enthroned;  and,  nearer  to  human  sympathies, 

1  Abrege  de  la  Vie  du  Pere  Noel  Chabanel,  MS.  This  anonymous 
paper  bears  the  signature  of  Ragueneau,  in  attestation  of  its  truth. 
See  also  Ragueneau,  Relation,  1650,  17, 18.  Chabanel's  vow  IB  here 
given  verbatim. 


196       CHARACTER  OF  CANADIAN  JESUITS.     [1637. 

Divinity  incarnate  in  the  Son,  with  the  benign  form 
of  his  immaculate  mother,  and  her  spouse  St.  Joseph, 
the  chosen  patron  of  New  France.  Interceding  saints 
and  departed  friends  bore  to  the  throne  of  grace  the 
petitions  of  those  yet  lingering  in  mortal  bondage  and 
formed  an  ascending  chain  from  earth  to  heaven. 

These  priests  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  supernat- 
uralism.  Every  day  had  its  miracle.  Divine  power 
declared  itself  in  action  immediate  and  direct,  con- 
trolling, guiding,  or  reversing  the  laws  of  Nature. 
The  missionaries  did  not  reject  the  ordinary  cures  for 
disease  or  wounds;  but  they  relied  far  more  on  a 
prayer  to  the  Virgin,  a  vow  to  St.  Joseph,  or  the 
promise  of  a  neuvaine  or  nine  days'  devotion  to  some 
other  celestial  personage ;  while  the  touch  of  a  frag- 
ment of  a  tooth  or  bone  of  some  departed  saint  was 
of  sovereign  efficacy  to  cure  sickness,  solace  pain,  or 
relieve  a  suffering  squaw  in  the  throes  of  childbirth. 
Once,  Chaumonot,  having  a  headache,  remembered 
to  have  heard  of  a  sick  man  who  regained  his  health 
by  commending  his  case  to  St.  Ignatius,  and  at  the 
same  time  putting  a  medal  stamped  with  his  image 
into  his  mouth.  Accordingly  he  tried  a  similar  ex- 
periment, putting  into  his  mouth  a  medal  bearing  a 
representation  of  the  Holy  Family,  which  was  the 
object  of  his  especial  devotion.  The  next  morning 
found  him  cured.1 

The  relation  between  this  world  and  the  next  was 
sometimes  of  a  nature  curiously  intimate.  Thus, 

1  Chaumonot,  Vie,  73. 


1637.]  MIRACLES.  197 

when  Cliaumonot  heard  of  Garnier's  death,  he  imme- 
diately addressed  his  departed  colleague,  and  prom- 
ised him  the  benefit  of  all  the  good  works  which  he, 
Chaumonot,  might  perform  during  the  next  week, 
provided  the  defunct  missionary  would  make  him 
heir  to  his  knowledge  of  the  Huron  tongue.1  And 
he  ascribed  to  the  deceased  Garnier's  influence  the 
mastery  of  that  language  which  he  afterwards 
acquired. 

The  efforts  of  the  missionaries  for  the  conversion 
of  the  savages  were  powerfully  seconded  from  the 
other  world,  and  the  refractory  subject  who  was  deaf 
to  human  persuasions  softened  before  the  superhu- 
man agencies  which  the  priest  invoked  to  his  aid.2 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add,  that  signs  and 
voices  from  another  world,  visitations  from  Hell  and 
visions  from  Heaven,  were  incidents  of  no  rare  occur- 
rence in  the  lives  of  these  ardent  apostles.  To  Bre'- 

1  "  Je  n'eus  pas  plutot  appris  sa  glorieuse  mort,  que  je  lui  promis 
tout  ce  qui  je  ferois  de  bien  pendant  huit  jours,  a  condition  qu'il 
me  feroit  son   heritier   dans   la  connoissance  parfaite  qu'il  avoit 
du  Huron."  —  Chaumonot,  Vie,  61. 

2  As  these  may  be  supposed  to  be  exploded  ideas  of  the  past, 
the  writer  may  recall  an  incident  of  his  youth,  while  spending  a 
few  days  in  the  convent  of  the  Passionists,  near  the  Coliseum  at 
Rome.    These  worthy  monks,  after  using  a  variety  of  arguments 
for  his  conversion,  expressed  the  hope  that  a  miraculous  interpo- 
sition would  be  vouchsafed  to  that  end,  and  that  the  Virgin  would 
manifest  herself  to  him  in  a  nocturnal  vision.    To  this  end  they 
gave  him  a  small  brass  medal,  stamped  with  her  image,  to  be  worn 
at  his  neck,  while  they  were  to  repeat  a  certain  number  of  Aves 
and  Paters,  in  which  he  was  urgently  invited  to  join ;  as  the  result  of 
which,  it  was  hoped  the  Virgin  would  appear  on  the  same  night. 
No  vision,  however,  occurred. 


198       CHARACTER  OF   CANADIAN  JESUITS.    [1637. 

beuf,  whose  deep  nature,  like  a  furnace  white  hot, 
glowed  with  the  still  intensity  of  his  enthusiasm, 
they  were  especially  frequent.  Demons  in  troops 
appeared  before  him,  sometimes  in  the  guise  of  men, 
sometimes  as  bears,  wolves,  or  wild-cats.  He  called 
on  God,  and  the  apparitions  vanished.  Death,  like 
a  skeleton,  sometimes  menaced  him,  and  once,  as  he 
faced  it  with  an  unquailing  eye,  it  fell  powerless  at 
his  feet.  A  demon,  in  the  form  of  a  woman,  assailed 
him  with  the  temptation  which  beset  St.  Benedict 
among  the  rocks  of  Subiaco ;  but  Bre'beuf  signed  the 
cross,  and  the  infernal  siren  melted  into  air.  He 
saw  the  vision  of  a  vast  and  gorgeous  palace ;  and  a 
miraculous  voice  assured  him  that  such  was  to  be  the 
reward  of  those  who  dwelt  in  savage  hovels  for  the 
cause  of  God.  Angels  appeared  to  him;  and  more 
than  once  St.  Joseph  and  the  Virgin  were  visibly 
present  before  his  sight.  Once,  when  he  was  among 
the  Neutral  Nation,  in  the  winter  of  1640,  he  beheld 
the  ominous  apparition  of  a  great  cross  slowly  ap- 
proaching from  the  quarter  where  lay  the  country  of 
the  Iroquois.  He  told  the  vision  to  his  comrades. 
"What  was  it  like?  How  large  was  it?"  they 
eagerly  demanded.  "Large  enough,"  replied  the 
priest,  "to  crucify  us  all."1  To  explain  such  phe- 

1  Quelques  Remarques  sur  la  Vie  du  Pere  Jean  de  Brebeuf,  MS. 
On  the  margin  of  this  paper,  opposite  several  of  the  statements 
repeated  above,  are  the  words,  signed  by  Ragueneau,  "  Ex  ipsius 
autographo,"  indicating  that  the  statements  were  made  in  writing  by 
Brebeuf  himself. 

Still  other  visions  are  recorded  by  Chaumonot  as  occurring  to 


1637.]  SELF-DEVOTION.  199 

nomena  is  the  province  of  psychology,  and  not  of  his- 
tory. Their  occurrence  is  no  matter  of  surprise,  and 
it  would  be  superfluous  to  doubt  that  they  were  re- 
counted in  good  faith,  and  with  a  full  belief  in  their 
reality. 

In  these  enthusiasts  we  shall  find  striking  examples 
of  one  of  the  morbid  forces  of  human  nature ;  yet  in 
candor  let  us  do  honor  to  what  was  genuine  in  them, 
—  that  principle  of  self-abnegation  which  is  the  life 
of  true  religion,  and  which  is  vital  no  less  to  the 
highest  forms  of  heroism. 

Br£beuf,  when  they  were  together  in  the  Neutral  country.  See  also 
the  long  notice  of  Brebeuf,  written  by  his  colleague,  Ragueneau, 
in  the  Relation  of  1649 ;  and  Tanner,  Societas  Jesu  Militans,  533. 


CHAPTER  X. 

1637-1640. 
PERSECUTION. 

OSSOSSANE. —  THE  NEW  CHAPEL.  —  A  TRIUMPH  OP  THE  FAITH. — 
THE  NETHER  POWERS.  —  SIGNS  OP  A  TEMPEST.  —  SLANDERS.— 
RAGE  AGAINST  THE  JESUITS.  —  THEIR  BOLDNESS  AND  PERSIST- 
ENCY.—  NOCTURNAL  COUNCIL.  —  DANGER  OF  THE  PRIESTS. — 
BREBEUF'S  LETTER.  —  NARROW  ESCAPES.  —  WOES  AND  CONSOLA- 
TIONS. 

THE  town  of  Ossossane",  or  Rochelle,  stood,  as  we 
have  seen,  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Huron,  at  the 
skirts  of  a  gloomy  wilderness  of  pine.  Thither,  in 
May,  1637,  repaired  Father  Pijart,  to  found,  in  this, 
one  of  the  largest  of  the  Huron  towns,  the  new  mis- 
sion of  the  Immaculate  Conception.1  The  Indians 
had  promised  Bre"beuf  to  build  a  house  for  the  black- 
robes,  and  Pijart  found  the  work  in  progress.  There 
were  at  this  time  about  fifty  dwellings  in  the  town, 
each  containing  eight  or  ten  families.  The  quad- 
rangular fort  already  alluded  to  had  now  been  com- 
pleted by  the  Indians,  under  the  instruction  of  the 
priests.2 

1  The  doctrine  of  the  immaculate  conception  of  the  Virgin, 
recently  sanctioned  by  the  Pope,  has  long  been  a  favorite  tenet  of 
the  Jesuits. 

2  Lettres  de  Gamier,  MSS.    It  was  of  upright  pickets,  ten  feet 
high,  with  flanking  towers  at  two  angles. 


1687.]  THE  NEW  CHAPEL.  201 

The  new  mission-house  was  about  seventy  feet  in 
length.  No  sooner  had  the  savage  workmen  secured 
the  bark  covering  on  its  top  and  sides  than  the  priests 
took  possession,  and  began  their  preparations  for  a 
notable  ceremony.  At  the  farther  end  they  made  an 
altar,  and  hung  such  decorations  as  they  had  on  the 
rough  walls  of  bark  throughout  half  the  length  of  the 
structure.  This  formed  their  chapel.  On  the  altar 
was  a  crucifix,  with  vessels  and  ornaments  of  shining 
metal ;  while  above  hung  several  pictures,  —  among 
them  a  painting  of  Christ,  and  another  of  the  Virgin, 
both  of  life-size.  There  was  also  a  representation  of 
the  Last  Judgment,  wherein  dragons  and  serpents 
might  be  seen  feasting  on  the  entrails  of  the  wicked, 
while  demons  scourged  them  into  the  flames  of  Hell. 
The  entrance  was  adorned  with  a  quantity  of  tinsel, 
together  with  green  boughs  skilfully  disposed.1 

Never  before  were  such  splendors  seen  in  the  land 
of  the  Hurons.  Crowds  gathered  from  afar,  and  gazed 
in  awe  and  admiration  at  the  marvels  of  the  sanctuary. 
A  woman  came  from  a  distant  town  to  behold  it, 
and,  tremulous  between  curiosity  and  fear,  thrust  her 
head  into  the  mysterious  recess,  declaring  that  she 
would  see  it,  though  the  look  should  cost  her  life.2 

1  "Nostre  Chapelle   estoit  extraordinairement   bien  ornee,  .  .  . 
nous  auions  dresse  vn  portique  entortille  de  feiiillage,  mesle  d'ori- 
peau,  en  vn  mot  nous  auions  estalle  tout  ce  que  vostre  R.  nous  a 
enuoie  de  beau,"  etc.,  etc.  —  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637, 
175,  176.    In  his  Relation  of  the  next  year  he  recurs  to  the  subject, 
and  describes  the  pictures  displayed  on  this  memorable  occasion. 
—  Relation  des  ffurons,  1638,  33. 

2  Ibid.,  1637,  176. 


202  PERSECUTION.  [1637. 

One  is  forced  to  wonder  at,  if  not  to  admire,  the 
energy  with  which  these  priests  and  their  scarcely 
less  zealous  attendants l  toiled  to  carry  their  pictures 
and  ornaments  through  the  most  arduous  of  journeys, 
where  the  traveller  was  often  famished  from  the  sheer 
difficulty  of  transporting  provisions. 

A  great  event  had  called  forth  all  this  preparation. 
Of  the  many  baptisms  achieved  by  the  Fathers  in  the 
course  of  their  indefatigable  ministry,  the  subjects 
had  all  been  infants,  or  adults  at  the  point  of  death ; 
but  at  length  a  Huron,  in  full  health  and  manhood, 
respected  and  influential  in  his  tribe,  had  been  won 
over  to  the  Faith,  and  was  now  to  be  baptized  with 
solemn  ceremonial  in  the  chapel  thus  gorgeously 
adorned.  It  was  a  strange  scene.  Indians  were 
there  in  throngs,  and  the  house  was  closely  packed, 
—  warriors,  old  and  young,  glistening  in  grease  and 
sunflower-oil,  with  uncouth  locks,  a  trifle  less  coarse 
than  a  horse's  mane,  and  faces  perhaps  smeared  with 
paint  in  honor  of  the  occasion ;  wenches  in  gay  attire ; 
hags  muffled  in  a  filthy  discarded  deer-skin,  their 
leathery  visages  corrugated  with  age  and  malice,  and 
their  hard,  glittering  eyes  riveted  on  the  spectacle 
before  them.  The  priests,  no  longer  in  their  daily 
garb  of  black,  but  radiant  in  their  surplices,  the  genu- 

1  The  Jesuits  on  these  distant  missions  were  usually  attended 
by  followers  who  had  taken  no  vows,  and  could  leave  their  service 
at  will,  but  whose  motives  were  religious,  and  not  mercenary.  Proba- 
bly this  was  the  character  of  their  attendants  in  the  present  case. 
They  were  known  as  donnes,  or,  "  given  men."  It  appears  from  a 
letter  of  the  Jesuit  Du  Peron,  that  twelve  hired  laborers  were 
soon  after  sent  up  to  the  mission. 


1637.]  THE  NETHER  POWERS.  203 

flections,  the  tinkling  of  the  bell,  the  swinging  of 
the  censer,  the  sweet  odors  so  unlike  the  fumes  of 
the  smoky  lodge-fires,  the  mysterious  elevation  of  the 
Host  (for  a  mass  followed  the  baptism),  and  the  agi- 
tation of  the  neophyte,  whose  Indian  imperturbability 
fairly  deserted  him,  —  all  these  combined  to  produce 
on  the  minds  of  the  savage  beholders  an  impression 
that  seemed  to  promise  a  rich  harvest  for  the  Faith. 
To  the  Jesuits  it  was  a  day  of  triumph  and  of  hope. 
The  ice  had  been  broken;  the  wedge  had  entered; 
light  had  dawned  at  last  on  the  long  night  of  heath- 
endom. But  there  was  one  feature  of  the  situation 
which  in  their  rejoicing  they  overlooked. 

The  Devil  had  taken  alarm.  He  had  borne  with 
reasonable  composure  the  loss  of  individual  souls 
snatched  from  him  by  former  baptisms ;  but  here  was 
a  convert  whose  example  and  influence  threatened  to 
shake  his  Huron  empire  to  its  very  foundation.  In 
fury  and  fear,  he  rose  to  the  conflict  and  put  forth  all 
his  malice  and  all  his  hellish  ingenuity.  Such,  at 
least,  is  the  explanation  given  by  the  Jesuits  of  the 
scenes  that  followed.1  Whether  accepting  it  or  not, 

1  Several  of  the  Jesuits  allude  to  this  supposed  excitement 
among  the  tenants  of  the  nether  world.  Thus,  Le  Mercier  says  : 
"Le  Diable  se  sentoit  presse  de  pres,  il  ne  pouuoit  supporter  le 
Baptesme  solennel  de  quelques  Sauuages  des  plus  signalez."  — 
Relation  des  Hurons,  1638,  33.  Several  other  baptisms  of  less  note 
followed  that  above  described.  Gamier,  writing  to  his  brother, 
repeatedly  alludes  to  the  alarm  excited  in  Hell  by  the  recent  suc- 
cesses of  the  mission,  and  adds,  — "  Vous  pouvez  juger  quelle  con- 
solation nous  e'toit-ce  de  voir  le  diable  s'armer  contre  nous  et  se 
servir  de  ses  esclaves  pour  nous  attaquer  et  tacher  de  nous  perdre 
en  haine  de  J.  C." 


204  PERSECUTION.  [1637-40. 

let  us  examine  the  circumstances  which  gave  rise 
to  it. 

The  mysterious  strangers,  garbed  in  black,  who  of 
late  years  had  made  their  abode  among  them  from 
motives  past  finding  out,  marvellous  in  knowledge, 
careless  of  life,  had  awakened  in  the  breasts  of  the 
Hurons  mingled  emotions  of  wonder,  perplexity,  fear, 
respect,  and  awe.  From  the  first,  they  had  held 
them  answerable  for  the  changes  of  the  weather, 
commending  them  when  the  crops  were  abundant, 
and  upbraiding  them  in  times  of  scarcity.  They 
thought  them  mighty  magicians,  masters  of  life  and 
death ;  and  they  came  to  them  for  spells,  sometimes 
to  destroy  their  enemies,  and  sometimes  to  kill  grass- 
hoppers. And  now  it  was  whispered  abroad  that  it 
was  they  who  had  bewitched  the  nation,  and  caused 
the  pest  which  threatened  to  exterminate  it. 

It  was  Isaac  Jogues  who  first  heard  this  ominous 
rumor,  at  the  town  of  Onnentisati ;  and  it  proceeded 
from  the  dwarfish  sorcerer  already  mentioned,  who 
boasted  himself  a  devil  incarnate.  The  slander 
spread  fast  and  far.  Their  friends  looked  at  them 
askance;  their  enemies  clamored  for  their  lives. 
Some  said  that  they  concealed  in  their  houses  a 
corpse,  which  infected  the  country,  —  a  perverted 
notion,  derived  from  some  half-instructed  neophyte, 
concerning  the  body  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist. 
Others  ascribed  the  evil  to  a  serpent,  others  to  a 
spotted  frog,  others  to  a  demon  which  the  priests 
were  supposed  to  carry  in  the  barrel  of  a  gun. 


1637-40.]    TERROR  OF  THE  HURONS.       205 

Others  again  gave  out  that  they  had  pricked  an  in- 
fant to  death  with  awls  in  the  forest,  in  order  to  kill 
the  Huron  children  by  magic.  "Perhaps,"  observes 
Father  Le  Mercier,  "the  Devil  was  enraged  because 
we  had  placed  a  great  many  of  these  little  innocents 
in  Heaven."1 

The  picture  of  the  Last  Judgment  became  an  ob- 
ject of  the  utmost  terror.  It  was  regarded  as  a 
charm.  The  dragons  and  serpents  were  supposed  to 
be  the  demons  of  the  pest,  and  the  sinners  whom 
they  were  so  busily  devouring  to  represent  its  vic- 
tims. On  the  top  of  a  spruce-tree,  near  their  house 
at  Ihonatiria,  the  priests  had  fastened  a  small 
streamer,  to  show  the  direction  of  the  wind.  This, 
too,  was  taken  for  a  charm,  throwing  off  disease  and 
death  to  all  quarters.  The  clock,  once  an  object  of 
harmless  wonder,  now  excited  the  wildest  alarm ;  and 
the  Jesuits  were  forced  to  stop  it,  since,  when  it 
struck,  it  was  supposed  to  sound  the  signal  of  death. 
At  sunset,  one  would  have  seen  knots  of  Indians, 
their  faces  dark  with  dejection  and  terror,  listening 
to  the  measured  sounds  which  issued  from  within  the 
neighboring  house  of  the  mission,  where,  with  bolted 
doors,  the  priests  were  singing  litanies,  mistaken  for 
incantations  by  the  awe-struck  savages. 

Had  the  objects  of  these  charges  been  Indians, 
their  term  of  life  would  have  been  very  short.  The 

1  "Le  diable  enrageoit  peutestre  de  ce  que  nous  avions  place* 
dans  le  ciel  quantite  de  ces  petits  innocens."  —  Le  Mercier,  Relation 
des  Hurons,  1638,  12  (Cramoisy). 


206  PERSECUTION.  [1637-40. 

blow  of  a  hatchet,  stealthily  struck  in  the  dusky  en- 
trance of  a  lodge,  would  have  promptly  avenged  the 
victims  of  their  sorcery,  and  delivered  the  country 
from  peril.  But  the  priests  inspired  a  strange  awe. 
Nocturnal  councils  were  held;  their  death  was  de- 
creed ;  and,  as  they  walked  their  rounds,  whispering 
groups  of  children  gazed  after  them  as  men  doomed 
to  die.  But  who  should  be  the  executioner?  They 
were  reviled  and  upbraided.  The  Indian  boys  threw 
sticks  at  them  as  they  passed,  and  then  ran  behind 
the  houses.  When  they  entered  one  of  these  pestif- 
erous dens,  this  impish  crew  clambered  on  the  roof 
to  pelt  them  with  snowballs  through  the  smoke-holes. 
The  old  squaw  who  crouched  by  the  fire  scowled  on 
them  with  mingled  anger  and  fear,  and  cried  out, 
"Begone!  there  are  no  sick  ones  here."  The  inva- 
lids wrapped  their  heads  in  their  blankets ;  and  when 
the  priest  accosted  some  dejected  warrior,  the  savage 
looked  gloomily  on  the  ground,  and  answered  not  a 
word. 

Yet  nothing  could  divert  the  Jesuits  from  their 
ceaseless  quest  of  dying  subjects  for  baptism,  and 
above  all  of  dying  children.  They  penetrated  every 
house  in  turn.  When,  through  the  thin  walls  of 
bark,  they  heard  the  wail  of  a  sick  infant,  no  menace 
and  no  insult  could  repel  them  from  the  threshold. 
They  pushed  boldly  in,  asked  to  buy  some  trifle, 
spoke  of  late  news  of  Iroquois  forays,  —  of  anything, 
in  short,  except  the  pestilence  and  the  sick  child; 
conversed  for  a  while  till  suspicion  was  partially 


Le  Jeune  baptising  Indian  Children. 


1637.]  THE   GREAT   COUNCIL.  207 

lulled  to  sleep,  and  then,  pretending  to  observe  the 
sufferer  for  the  first  time,  approached  it,  felt  its 
pulse,  and  asked  of  its  health.  Now,  while  appar- 
ently fanning  the  heated  brow,  the  dexterous  visitor 
touched  it  with  a  corner  of  his  handkerchief,  which 
he  had  previously  dipped  in  water,  murmured  the 
baptismal  words  with  motionless  lips,  and  snatched 
another  soul  from  the  fangs  of  the  "Infernal  Wolf."1 
Thus,  with  the  patience  of  saints,  the  courage  of 
heroes,  and  an  intent  truly  charitable,  did  the  Fathers 
put  forth  a  nimble-fingered  adroitness  that  would 
have  done  credit  to  the  profession  of  which  the  func- 
tion is  less  to  dispense  the  treasures  of  another  world 
than  to  grasp  those  which  pertain  to  this. 

The  Huron  chiefs  were  summoned  to  a  great  coun- 
cil, to  discuss  the  state  of  the  nation.  The  crisis 
demanded  all  their  wisdom;  for  while  the  continued 
ravages  of  disease  threatened  them  with  annihilation, 
the  Iroquois  scalping-parties  infested  the  outskirts  of 
their  towns,  and  murdered  them  in  their  fields  and 
forests.  The  assembly  met  in  August,  1637;  and 
the  Jesuits,  knowing  their  deep  stake  in  its  delibera- 
tions, failed  not  to  be  present,  with  a  liberal  gift  of 

1  Ce  loup  infernal  is  a  title  often  bestowed  in  the  Relations  on 
the  Devil.  The  above  details  are  gathered  from  the  narratives  of 
Bre'beuf,  Le  Mercier,  and  Lalemant,  and  letters,  published  and 
unpublished,  of  several  other  Jesuits. 

In  another  case,  an  Indian  girl  was  carrying  on  her  back  a  sick 
child,  two  months  old.  Two  Jesuits  approached,  and  while  one  of 
them  amused  the  girl  with  his  rosary,  "1'autre  le  baptise  leste- 
ment;  le  pauure  petit  n'attendoit  que  ceste  faueur  du  Ciel  pour 
s'y  enuoler." 


208  PERSECUTION.  [1637. 

wampum,  to  show  their  sympathy  in  the  public  calam- 
ities. In  private,  they  sought  to  gain  the  good-will 
of  the  deputies,  one  by  one;  but  though  they  were 
successful  in  some  cases,  the  result  on  the  whole  was 
far  from  hopeful. 

In  the  intervals  of  the  council,  Bre*beuf  discoursed 
to  the  crowd  of  chiefs  on  the  wonders  of  the  visible 
heavens,  —  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  and  the 
planets.  They  were  inclined  to  believe  what  he  told 
them;  for  he  had  lately,  to  their  great  amazement, 
accurately  predicted  an  eclipse.  From  the  fires  above 
he  passed  to  the  fires  beneath,  till  the  listeners  stood 
aghast  at  his  hideous  pictures  of  the  flames  of  perdi- 
tion,—  the  only  species  of  Christian  instruction  which 
produced  any  perceptible  effect  on  this  unpromising 
auditory. 

The  council  opened  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth  of 
August,  with  all  the  usual  ceremonies ;  and  the  night 
was  spent  in  discussing  questions  of  treaties  and  alli- 
ances, with  a  deliberation  and  good  sense  which  the 
Jesuits  could  not  help  admiring.1  A  few  days  after, 
the  assembly  took  up  the  more  exciting  question  of 
the  epidemic  and  its  causes.  Deputies  from  three  of 
the  four  Huron  nations  were  present,  each  deputation 
sitting  apart.  The  Jesuits  were  seated  with  the  Na- 
tion of  the  Bear,  in  whose  towns  their  missions  were 
established.  Like  all  important  councils,  the  session 
was  held  at  night.  It  was  a  strange  scene.  The 
light  of  the  fires  flickered  aloft  into  the  smoky  vault 

1  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1638,  38. 


1637.]  THE  JESUITS  IMPEACHED.  209 

and  among  the  soot-begrimed  rafters  of  the  great 
council-house,1  and  cast  an  uncertain  gleam  on  the 
wild  and  dejected  throng  that  filled  the  platforms 
and  the  floor.  "I  think  I  never  saw  anything  more 
lugubrious,"  writes  Le  Mercier:  "they  looked  at  each 
other  like  so  many  corpses,  or  like  men  who  already 
feel  the  terror  of  death.  When  they  spoke,  it  was 
only  with  sighs,  each  reckoning  up  the  sick  and  dead 
of  his  own  family.  All  this  was  to  excite  each  other 
to  vomit  poison  against  us." 

A  grisly  old  chief,  named  Ontitarac,  withered  with 
age  and  stone-blind,  but  renowned  in  past  years  for 
eloquence  and  counsel,  opened  the  debate  in  a  loud, 
though  tremulous  voice.  First  he  saluted  each  of 
the  three  nations  present,  then  each  of  the  chiefs  in 
turn,  —  congratulated  them  that  all  were  there  as- 
sembled to  deliberate  on  a  subject  of  the  last  impor- 
tance to  the  public  welfare,  and  exhorted  them  to 
give  it  a  mature  and  calm  consideration.  Next  rose 
the  chief  whose  office  it  was  to  preside  over  the  Feast 
of  the  Dead.  He  painted  in  dismal  colors  the  woful 
condition  of  the  country,  and  ended  with  charging  it 
all  upon  the  sorceries  of  the  Jesuits.  Another  old 
chief  followed  him.  "My  brothers,"  he  said,  "you 
know  well  that  I  am  a  war-chief,  and  very  rarely 
speak  except  in  councils  of  war;  but  I  am  compelled 
to  speak  now,  since  nearly  all  the  other  chiefs  are 
dead,  and  I  must  utter  what  is  in  my  heart  before  I 

1  It  must  have  been  the  house  of  a  chief.     The  Hurons,  unlike 
some  other  tribes,  had  no  houses  set  apart  for  public  occasions. 
VOL.  i. —  14 


210  PERSECUTION.  [1637. 

follow  them  to  the  grave.  Only  two  of  my  family 
are  left  alive,  and  perhaps  even  these  will  not  long 
escape  the  fury  of  the  pest.  I  have  seen  other  dis- 
eases ravaging  the  country,  but  nothing  that  could 
compare  with  this.  In  two  or  three  moons  we  saw 
their  end ;  but  now  we  have  suffered  for  a  year  and 
more,  and  yet  the  evil  does  not  abate.  And,  what  is 
worst  of  all,  we  have  not  yet  discovered  its  source." 
Then,  with  words  of  studied  moderation,  alternating 
with  bursts  of  angry  invective,  he  proceeded  to  accuse 
the  Jesuits  of  causing,  by  their  sorceries,  the  unpar- 
alleled calamities  that  afflicted  them ;  and  in  support 
of  his  charge  he  adduced  a  prodigious  mass  of  evi- 
dence. When  he  had  spent  his  eloquence,  Bre*beuf 
rose  to  reply,  and  in  a  few  words  exposed  the  absurd- 
ities of  his  statements;  whereupon  another  accuser 
brought  a  new  array  of  charges.  A  clamor  soon 
arose  from  the  whole  assembly,  and  they  called  upon 
Bre"beuf  with  one  voice  to  give  up  a  certain  charmed 
cloth  which  was  the  cause  of  their  miseries.  In  vain 
the  missionary  protested  that  he  had  no  such  cloth. 
The  clamor  increased. 

"If  you  will  not  believe  me,"  said  Brdbeuf,  "go  to 
our  house;  search  everywhere;  and  if  you  are  not 
sure  which  is  the  charm,  take  all  our  clothing  and  all 
our  cloth,  and  throw  them  into  the  lake." 

"Sorcerers  always  talk  in  that  way,"  was  the 
reply. 

"Then  what  will  you  have  me  say?"  demanded 
Brdbeuf. 


1637.]  DANGER  OF  THE  PRIESTS.  211 

"Tell  us  the  cause  of  the  pest." 

Bre'beuf  replied  to  the  best  of  his  power,  mingling 
his  explanations  with  instructions  in  Cliristian  doc- 
trine and  exhortations  to  embrace  the  Faith.  He  was 
continually  interrupted ;  and  the  old  chief,  Ontitarac, 
still  called  upon  him  to  produce  the  charmed  cloth. 
Thus  the  debate  continued  till  after  midnight,  when 
several  of  the  assembly,  seeing  no  prospect  of  a  ter- 
mination, fell  asleep,  and  others  went  away.  One 
old  chief,  as  he  passed  out,  said  to  Brebeuf,  "  If  some 
young  man  should  split  your  head,  we  should  have 
nothing  to  say."  The  priest  still  continued  to  har- 
angue the  diminished  conclave  on  the  necessity  of 
obeying  God,  and  the  danger  of  offending  Him,  when 
the  chief  of  Ossossand  called  out  impatiently,  "  What 
sort  of  men  are  these  ?  They  are  always  saying  the 
same  thing,  and  repeating  the  same  words  a  hundred 
times.  They  are  never  done  with  telling  us  about 
their  OM,  and  what  he  demands  and  what  he  forbids, 
and  Paradise  and  Hell."1 

"Here  was  the  end  of  this  miserable  council," 
writes  Le  Mercier ;  .  .  .  "  and  if  less  evil  came  of  it 
than  was  designed,  we  owe  it,  after  God,  to  the  Most 
Holy  Virgin,  to  whom  we  had  made  a  vow  of  nine 
masses  in  honor  of  her  immaculate  conception." 

The  Fathers  had  escaped  for  the  time;  but  they 
were  still  in  deadly  peril.  They  had  taken  pains  to 

1  The  above  account  of  the  council  is  drawn  from  Le  Mercier, 
Relation  des  Hurons,  1638,  chap.  ii.  See  also  Bressani,  Relation 
Abregee,  163. 


212  PERSECUTION.  [1637. 

secure  friends  in  private,  and  there  were  those  who 
were  attached  to  their  interests;  yet  none  dared 
openly  take  their  part.  The  few  converts  they  had 
lately  made  came  to  them  in  secret,  and  warned  them 
that  their  death  was  determined  upon.  Their  house 
was  set  on  fire;  in  public,  every  face  was  averted 
from  them;  and  a  new  council  was  called  to  pro- 
nounce the  decree  of  death.  They  appeared  before  it 
with  a  front  of  such  unflinching  assurance  that  their 
judges,  Indian-like,  postponed  the  sentence.  Yet  it 
seemed  impossible  that  they  should  much  longer 
escape.  Brebeuf,  therefore,  wrote  a  letter  of  fare- 
well to  his  Superior,  Le  Jeune,  at  Quebec,  and  con- 
fided it  to  some  converts  whom  he  could  trust,  to  be 
carried  by  them  to  its  destination. 

"We  are  perhaps,"  he  says,  "about  to  give  our 
blood  and  our  lives  in  the  cause  of  our  Master,  Jesus 
Christ.  It  seems  that  His  goodness  will  accept  this 
sacrifice,  as  regards  me,  in  expiation  of  my  great  and 
numberless  sins,  and  that  He  will  thus  crown  the 
past  services  and  ardent  desires  of  all  our  Fathers 
here.  .  .  .  Blessed  be  His  name  forever,  that  He  has 
chosen  us,  among  so  many  better  than  we,  to  aid  Him 
to  bear  His  cross  in  this  land!  In  all  things,  His 
holy  will  be  done ! "  He  then  acquaints  Le  Jeune 
that  he  has  directed  the  sacred  vessels,  and  all  else 
belonging  to  the  service  of  the  altar,  to  be  placed,  in 
case  of  his  death,  in  the  hands  of  Pierre,  the  convert 
whose  baptism  has  been  described,  and  that  especial 
care  will  be  taken  to  preserve  the  dictionary  and 


1637.]  THE  FAREWELL  FEAST.  213 

other  writings  on  the  Huron  language.     The  letter 
closes  with  a  request  for  masses  and  prayers.1 

The  imperilled  Jesuits  now  took  a  singular,  but 
certainly  a  very  wise  step.  They  gave  one  of  those 
farewell  feasts  — festins  &  adieu  —  which  Huron  cus- 
tom enjoined  on  those  about  to  die,  whether  in  the 
course  of  Nature  or  by  public  execution.  Being 

1  The  following  is  the  conclusion  of  the  letter  (Le  Mercier, 
Relation  des  Hurons,  1638,  43)  :  — 

En  tout,  sa  sainte  volonte  soit  faite ;  s'il  veut  que  des  ceste  heure 
nous  mourions,  6  la  bonne  heure  pour  nous  !  s'il  veut  nous  reseruer 
a  d'autres  trauaux,  qu'il  soit  beny ;  si  vous  entendez  que  Dieu  ait 
couronne  nos  petits  trauaux,  ou  plustost  nos  desirs,  benissez-le : 
car  c'est  pour  luy  que  nous  desirons  viure  et  mourir,  et  c'est  luy 
qui  nous  en  donne  la  grace.  Au  reste  si  quelques-vns  suruiuent 
i'ay  donne  ordre  de  tout  ce  qu'ils  doiuent  faire.  Fay  este  d'aduis 
que  nos  Peres  et  nos  domestiques  se  retirent  chez  ceux  qu'ils  croy- 
ront  estre  leurs  meilleurs  amis ;  i'ay  donne  charge  qu'on  porte  chez 
Pierre  nostre  premier  Chrestien  tout  ce  qui  est  de  la  Sacristie,  sur  tout 
qu'on  ait  vn  soin  particulier  de  mettre  en  lieu  d'asseurance  le  Diction- 
naire  et  tout  ce  que  nousauons  dela  langue.  Pourmoy,  si  Dieu  me 
fait  la  grace  d'aller  au  Ciel,  ie  prieray  Dieu  pour  eux,  pour  les 
pauures  Hurons,  et  n'oublieray  pas  Vostre  Reuerence. 

Apres  tout,  nous  supplions  V.  R.  et  tous  nos  Peres  de  ne  nous 
oublier  en  leurs  saincts  Sacrifices  et  prieres,  afin  qu'en  la  vie  et 
apres  la  mort,  il  nous  fasse  misericorde ;  nous  sommes  tous  en  la 
vie  et  a  1'Eternite, 

De  vostre  Reuerence  tres-humbles  et  tres-affectionnez  seruiteurs 
en  Nostre  Seigneur, 

IEAN  DE   BREBEVF. 

FRANCOIS  JOSEPH  LE  MERCIEB. 

PIERRE  CHASTELLAIN. 

CHARLES   GARNIER. 

PAVL   RAGVENEAV. 

En  la  Residence  de  la  Conception,  a  Ossossane", 
ce  28  Octobre. 

I'ay  laisse  en  la  Residence  de  sainct  Joseph  les  Peres  Pierro 
Pijart  et  Isaac  logves,  dans  les  mesmes  sentimens. 


214  PERSECUTION.  [1637. 

interpreted,  it  was  a  declaration  that  the  priests 
knew  their  danger,  and  did  not  shrink  from  it.  It 
might  have  the  effect  of  changing  overawed  friends 
into  open  advocates,  and  even  of  awakening  a  certain 
sympathy  in  the  breasts  of  an  assembly  on  whom  a 
bold  bearing  could  rarely  fail  of  influence.  The 
house  was  packed  with  feasters,  and  Bre'beuf  ad- 
dressed them  as  usual  on  his  unfailing  themes  of 
God,  Paradise,  and  Hell.  The  throng  listened  in 
gloomy  silence ;  and  each,  when  he  had  emptied  his 
bowl,  rose  and  departed,  leaving  his  entertainers  in 
utter  doubt  as  to  his  feelings  and  intentions.  From 
this  time  forth,  however,  the  clouds  that  overhung 
the  Fathers  became  less  dark  and  threatening. 
Voices  were  heard  in  their  defence,  and  looks  were 
less  constantly  averted.  They  ascribed  the  change 
to  the  intercession  of  St.  Joseph,  to  whom  they  had 
vowed  a  nine  days'  devotion.  By  whatever  cause 
produced,  the  lapse  of  a  week  wrought  a  hopeful 
improvement  in  their  prospects ;  and  when  they  went 
out  of  doors  in  the  morning,  it  was  no  longer  with 
the  expectation  of  having  a  hatchet  struck  into  their 
brains  as  they  crossed  the  threshold.1 

The  persecution  of  the  Jesuits  as  sorcerers  contin- 
ued, in  an  intermittent  form,  for  years;  and  several 
of  them  escaped  very  narrowly.  In  a  house  at  Ossos- 

1  "  Tant  y  a  que  depuis  le  6.  de  Nouembre  que  nous  acheuasmes 
nos  Messes  votiues  a  son  honneur,  nous  auons  iouy  d'vn  repos 
incroyable,  nous  nous  en  emeruillons  nous-mesmes  de  iour  en  iour, 
quand  nous  considerons  en  quel  estat  estoient  nos  affaires  il  n'y  a 
que  huict  iours."  —  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1638,  44. 


1637-40.]  NARROW  ESCAPES.  215 

sand,  a  young  Indian  rushed  suddenly  upon  Frangois 
Du  Peron,  and  lifted  his  tomahawk  to  brain  him, 
when  a  squaw  caught  his  hand.  Paul  Ragueneau 
wore  a  crucifix,  from  which  hung  the  image  of  a 
skull.  An  Indian,  thinking  it  a  charm,  snatched  it 
from  him.  The  priest  tried  to  recover  it,  when  the 
savage,  his  eyes  glittering  with  murder,  brandished 
his  hatchet  to  strike.  Ragueneau  stood  motionless, 
waiting  the  blow.  His  assailant  forbore,  and  with- 
drew, muttering.  Pierre  Chaumonot  was  emerging 
from  a  house  at  the  Huron  town  called  by  the  Jes- 
uits St.  Michel,  where  he  had  just  baptized  a  dying 
girl,  when  her  brother,  standing  hidden  in  the  door- 
way, struck  him  on  the  head  with  a  stone.  Chau- 
monot, severely  wounded,  staggered  without  falling, 
when  the  Indian  sprang  upon  him  with  his  toma- 
hawk. The  bystanders  arrested  the  blow.  Fran- 
9ois  Le  Mercier,  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd  of  Indians 
in  a  house  at  the  town  called  St.  Louis,  was  assailed 
by  a  noted  chief,  who  rushed  in,  raving  like  a  mad- 
man, and  in  a  torrent  of  words  charged  upon  him  all 
the  miseries  of  the  nation.  Then,  snatching  a  brand 
from  the  fire,  he  shook  it  in  the  Jesuit's  face  and  told 
him  that  he  should  be  burned  alive.  Le  Mercier 
met  him  with  looks  as  determined  as  his  own,  till, 
abashed  at  his  undaunted  front  and  bold  denuncia- 
tions, the  Indian  stood  confounded.1 

1  The  above  incidents  are  from  Le  Mercier,  Lalemant,  Bressani, 
the  autobiography  of  Chaumonot,  the  unpublished  writings  of 
Gamier,  and  the  ancient  manuscript  volume  of  memoirs  of  the 
early  Canadian  missionaries,  at  St.  Mary's  College,  Montreal. 


216  PERSECUTION.  [1637-40. 

The  belief  that  their  persecutions  were  owing  to 
the  fury  of  the  Devil,  driven  to  desperation  by  the 
home-thrusts  he  had  received  at  their  hands,  was  an 
unfailing  consolation  to  the  priests.  "Truly,"  writes 
Le  Mercier,  "  it  is  an  unspeakable  happiness  for  us, 
in  the  midst  of  this  barbarism,  to  hear  the  roaring  of 
the  demons,  and  to  see  Earth  and  Hell  raging  against 
a  handful  of  men  who  will  not  even  defend  them- 
selves."1 In  all  the  copious  records  of  this  dark 
period,  not  a  line  gives  occasion  to  suspect  that  one 
of  this  loyal  band  flinched  or  hesitated.  The  iron 
Brdbeuf,  the  gentle  Gamier,  the  all-enduring  Jogues, 
the  enthusiastic  Chaumonot,  Lalemant,  Le  Mercier, 
Chatelain,  Daniel,  Pijart,  Ragueneau,  Du  Peron, 
Poncet,  Le  Moyne,  —  one  and  all  bore  themselves 
with  a  tranquil  boldness,  which  amazed  the  Indians 
and  enforced  their  respect. 

Father  Jerome  Lalemant,  in  his  journal  of  1639,  is 
disposed  to  draw  an  evil  augury  for  the  mission  from 
the  fact  that  as  yet  no  priest  had  been  put  to  death, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  a  received  maxim  that  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church.2  He  consoles 

1  "  C'est  veritablement    un  bonheur    indicible  pour   nous,    au 
milieu  de  cette  barbaric,  d'entendre  les  rugissemens  des  demons,  & 
de  voir  tout  1'Enfer  &  quasi  tous  les  homines  animez  &  remplis  de 
fureur  contre  une   petite  poignee  de  gens  qui  ne  voudroient  pas 
se  defendre."  —  Relation  des  Hurons,  1640,  31  (Cramoisy). 

2  "  Nous  auons  quelque  fois  doute,  s£auoir  si  on  pouuoit  esperer 
la  conuersion  de  ce  pa'is  sans  qu'il  y  eust  effusion  de  sang :  le  prin- 
cipe  re?eu  ce  semble  dans  1'Eglise  de  Dieu,  que  le  sang  des  Martyrs 
est  la  semence  des  Chrestiens,  me  faisoit  conclure  pour  lors,  que 
cela  n'estoit  pas  a  esperer,  voire  mesme  qu'il  n'etoit  pas  a  souhaiter, 


1637-40.]  CONSOLATIONS.  217 

himself  with  the  hope  that  the  daily  life  of  the  mis- 
sionaries may  be  accepted  as  a  living  martyrdom; 
since  abuse  and  threats  without  end,  the  smoke, 
fleas,  filth,  and  dogs  of  the  Indian  lodges,  —  which 
are,  he  says,  little  images  of  Hell,  —  cold,  hunger, 
and  ceaseless  anxiety,  and  all  these  continued  for 
years,  are  a  portion  to  which  many  might  prefer  the 
stroke  of  a  tomahawk.  Reasonable  as  the  Father's 
hope  may  be,  its  expression  proved  needless  in  the 
sequel;  for  the  Huron  church  was  not  destined  to 
suffer  from  a  lack  of  martyrdom  in  any  form. 

considere*  la  gloire  qui  reuient  a  Dieu  de  la  Constance  des  Martyrs, 
du  sang  desquels  tout  le  reste  de  la  terre  ayant  tantost  este  abreuuc, 
ce  seroit  vne  espece  de  malediction,  que  ce  quartier  du  monde  ne 
participast  point  au  bonheur  d'auoir  contribue  a  1'esclat  de  ceste 
gloire."  —  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1639,  56,  67. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1638-1640. 
PRIEST  AND  PAGAN. 

Du  PERON'S  JOURNEY.  —  DAILY  LIFE  OP  THE  JESUITS.  —  THEIB 
MISSIONARY  EXCURSIONS.  —  CONVERTS  AT  OSSOSSANE.  —  MA- 
CHINERY OF  CONVERSION.  —  CONDITIONS  OF  BAPTISM.  —  BACK- 
SLIDERS.—  THE  CONVERTS  AND  THEIR  COUNTRYMEN.  —  THE 
CANNIBALS  AT  ST.  JOSEPH. 

WE  have  already  touched  on  the  domestic  life  of 
the  Jesuits.  That  we  may  the  better  know  them,  we 
will  follow  one  of  their  number  on  his  journey 
towards  the  scene  of  his  labors,  and  observe  what 
awaited  him  on  his  arrival. 

Father  Francois  Du  Peron  came  up  the  Ottawa  in 
a  Huron  canoe  in  September,  1638,  and  was  well 
treated  by  the  Indian  owner  of  the  vessel.  Lalemant 
and  Le  Moyne,  who  had  set  out  from  Three  Rivers 
before  him,  did  not  fare  so  well.  The  former  was 
assailed  by  an  Algonquin  of  Allumette  Island,  who 
tried  to  strangle  him  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  a 
child,  which  a  Frenchman  in  the  employ  of  the  Jes- 
uits had  lately  bled,  but  had  failed  to  restore  to 
health  by  the  operation.  Le  Moyne  was  abandoned 
by  his  Huron  conductors,  and  remained  for  a  fort- 
night by  the  bank  of  the  river,  with  a  French  atten- 


1638.]  DU  PERON'S  JOURNEY.  219 

dant  who  supported  him  by  hunting.  Another 
Huron,  belonging  to  the  flotilla  that  carried  Du 
Peron,  then  took  him  into  his  canoe;  but,  becom- 
ing tired  of  him,  was  about  to  leave  him  on  a  rock 
in  the  river,  when  his  brother  priest  bribed  the  sav- 
age with  a  blanket  to  carry  him  to  his  journey's  end. 
It  was  midnight,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  Septem- 
ber, when  Du  Peron  landed  on  the  shore  of  Thunder 
Bay,  after  paddling  without  rest  since  one  o'clock  of 
the  preceding  morning.  The  night  was  rainy,  and 
Ossossan6  was  about  fifteen  miles  distant.  His  In- 
dian companions  were  impatient  to  reach  their  towns ; 
the  rain  prevented  the  kindling  of  a  fire ;  while  the 
priest,  who  for  a  long  time  had  not  heard  mass,  was 
eager  to  renew  his  communion  as  soon  as  possible. 
Hence,  tired  and  hungry  as  he  was,  he  shouldered  his 
sack,  and  took  the  path  for  Ossossand  without  break- 
ing his  fast.  He  toiled  on,  half-spent,  amid  the 
ceaseless  pattering,  trickling,  and  whispering  of  in- 
numerable drops  among  innumerable  leaves,  till,  as 
day  dawned,  he  reached  a  clearing,  and  descried 
through  the  mists  a  cluster  of  Huron  houses.  Faint 
and  bedrenched,  he  entered  the  principal  one,  and 
was  greeted  with  the  monosyllable  Shay!  —  "  Wel- 
come !  "  A  squaw  spread  a  mat  for  him  by  the  fire, 
roasted  four  ears  of  Indian  corn  before  the  coals, 
baked  two  squashes  in  the  embers,  ladled  from  her 
kettle  a  dish  of  sagamite,  and  offered  them  to  her 
famished  guest.  Missionaries  seem  to  have  been  a 
novelty  at  this  place;  for,  while  the  Father  break- 


220  PRIEST   AND  PAGAN.  [1638. 

fasted,  a  crowd,  chiefly  of  children,  gathered  about 
him,  and  stared  at  him  in  silence.  One  examined 
the  texture  of  his  cassock;  another  put  on  his  hat;  a 
third  took  the  shoes  from  his  feet,  and  tried  them  on 
her  own.  Du  Peron  requited  his  entertainers  with 
a  few  trinkets,  and  begged,  by  signs,  a  guide  to 
Ossossane*.  An  Indian  accordingly  set  out  with  him, 
and  conducted  him  to  the  mission-house,  which  he 
reached  at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

Here  he  found  a  warm  welcome,  and  little  other 
refreshment.  In  respect  to  the  commodities  of  life, 
the  Jesuits  were  but  a  step  in  advance  of  the  Indians. 
Their  house,  though  well  ventilated  by  numberless 
crevices  in  its  bark  walls,  always  smelt  of  smoke,  and 
when  the  wind  was  in  certain  quarters  was  filled 
with  it  to  suffocation.  At  their  meals,  the  Fathers 
sat  on  logs  around  the  fire,  over  which  their  kettle 
was  slung  in  the  Indian  fashion.  Each  had  his 
wooden  platter,  which,  from  the  difficulty  of  trans- 
portation, was  valued  in  the  Huron  country  at  the 
price  of  a  robe  of  beaver-skin,  or  a  hundred  francs.1 
Their  food  consisted  of  sagamite,  or  "  mush,"  made 
of  pounded  Indian-corn,  boiled  with  scraps  of  smoked 
fish.  Chaumonot  compares  it  to  the  paste  used  for 
papering  the  walls  of  houses.  The  repast  was  occa- 
sionally varied  by  a  pumpkin  or  squash  baked  in  the 
ashes,  or,  in  the  season,  by  Indian  corn  roasted  in 

1  "  Nos  plats,  quoyque  de  bois,  nous  content  plus  cher  que  les 
votres ;  ils  sont  de  la  valeur  d'une  robe  de  castor,  c'est  k  dire  cent 
francs."  —  Lettre  dn  P.  Du  Peron  a  son  Frere,  27  Avril,  1639.  The 
Father's  appraisement  seems  a  little  questionable. 


1638-40.]  JESUIT  DAILY  LIFE.  221 

the  ear.  They  used  no  salt  whatever.  They  could 
bring  their  cumbrous  pictures,  ornaments,  and  vest- 
ments through  the  savage  journey  of  the  Ottawa; 
but  they  could  not  bring  the  common  necessaries  of 
life.  By  day,  they  read  and  studied  by  the  light 
that  streamed  in  through  the  large  smoke-holes  in  the 
roof,  —  at  night,  by  the  blaze  of  the  fire.  Their  only 
candles  were  a  few  of  wax,  for  the  altar.  They  cul- 
tivated a  patch  of  ground,  but  raised  nothing  on  it 
except  wheat  for  making  the  sacramental  bread. 
Their  food  was  supplied  by  the  Indians,  to  whom 
they  gave  in  return  cloth,  knives,  awls,  needles,  and 
various  trinkets.  Their  supply  of  wine  for  the  Eu- 
charist was  so  scanty,  that  they  limited  themselves 
to  four  or  five  drops  for  each  mass.1 

Their  life  was  regulated  with  a  conventual  strict- 
ness. At  four  in  the  morning,  a  bell  roused  them 
from  the  sheets  of  bark  on  which  they  slept.  Masses, 
private  devotions,  reading  religious  books,  and  break- 
fasting filled  the  time  until  eight,  when  they  opened 
their  door  and  admitted  the  Indians.  As  many  of 

1  The  above  particulars  are  drawn  from  a  long  letter  of  Fran- 
9013  Du  Peron  to  his  brother,  Joseph-Imbert  Du  Peron,  dated  at 
La  Conception  (Ossossane),  April  27, 1639,  and  from  a  letter  equally 
long,  of  Chaumonot  to  Father  Philippe  Nappi,  dated  Du  Pays  des 
Hurons,  May  26,  1640.  Both  are  in  Carayon.  These  private 
letters  of  the  Jesuits,  of  which  many  are  extant,  in  some  cases 
written  on  birch-bark,  are  invaluable  as  illustrations  of  the 
subject. 

The  Jesuits  soon  learned  to  make  wine  from  wild  grapes. 
Those  in  Maine  and  Acadia,  at  a  later  period,  made  good  candles 
from  the  waxy  fruit  of  the  shrub  known  locally  as  the 
"  bayberry." 


222  PRIEST  AND  PAGAN.  [1638-40. 

these  proved  intolerable  nuisances,  they  took  what 
Lalemant  calls  the  honnete  liberty  of  turning  out  the 
most  intrusive  and  impracticable,  —  an  act  performed 
with  all  tact  and  courtesy,  and  rarely  taken  in  dud- 
geon. Having  thus  winnowed  their  company,  they 
catechised  those  that  remained,  as  opportunity  of- 
fered. In  the  intervals,  the  guests  squatted  by  the 
fire  and  smoked  their  pipes. 

As  among  the  Spartan  virtues  of  the  Hurons  that 
of  thieving  was  especially  conspicuous,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  one  or  more  of  the  Fathers  should  remain 
on  guard  at  the  house  all  day.  The  rest  went  forth 
on  their  missionary  labors,  baptizing  and  instructing, 
as  we  have  seen.  To  each  priest  who  could  speak 
Huron J  was  assigned  a  certain  number  of  houses,  — 
in  some  instances,  as  many  as  forty;  and  as  these 
often  had  five  or  six  fires,  with  two  families  to  each, 
his  spiritual  flock  was  as  numerous  as  it  was  intract- 
able. It  was  his  care  to  see  that  none  of  the  number 
died  without  baptism,  and  by  every  means  in  his 
power  to  commend  the  doctrines  of  his  faith  to  the 
acceptance  of  those  in  health. 

At  dinner,  which  was  at  two  o'clock,  grace  was 
said  in  Huron,  —  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians  pres- 
ent, —  and  a  chapter  of  the  Bible  was  read  aloud 
during  the  meal.  At  four  or  five,  according  to  the 
season,  the  Indians  were  dismissed,  the  door  closed, 
and  the  evening  spent  in  writing,  reading,  studying 

1  At  the  end  of  the  year  1638,  there  were  seven  priests  who 
spoke  Huron,  and  three  who  had  begun  to  learn  it 


1638-40.]  MISSIONARY  EXCURSIONS.  223 

the  language,  devotion,  and  conversation  on  the  af- 
fairs of  the  mission. 

The  local  missions  here  referred  to  embraced  Os- 
sossand  and  the  villages  of  the  neighborhood ;  but  the 
priests  by  no  means  confined  themselves  within  these 
limits.  They  made  distant  excursions,  two  in  com- 
pany, until  every  house  in  every  Huron  town  had 
heard  the  annunciation  of  the  new  doctrine.  On 
these  journeys,  they  carried  blankets  or  large  man- 
tles at  their  backs,  for  sleeping  in  at  night,  besides  a 
supply  of  needles,  awls,  beads,  and  other  small  arti- 
cles to  pay  for  their  lodging  and  entertainment;  for 
the  Hurons,  hospitable  without  stint  to  each  other, 
expected  full  compensation  from  the  Jesuits. 

At  Ossossane",  the  house  of  the  Jesuits  no  longer 
served  the  double  purpose  of  dwelling  and  chapel. 
In  1638,  they  had  in  their  pay  twelve  artisans  and 
laborers,  sent  up  from  Quebec,1  who  had  built,  before 
the  close  of  the  year,  a  chapel  of  wood.2  Hither  they 
removed  their  pictures  and  ornaments;  and  here,  in 
winter,  several  fires  were  kept  burning,  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  half -naked  converts.3  Of  these  they  now 
had  at  Ossossan6  about  sixty,  —  a  large,  though  evi- 
dently not  a  very  solid  nucleus  for  the  Huron  church, 
—  and  they  labored  hard  and  anxiously  to  confirm 
and  multiply  them.  Of  a  Sunday  morning  in  win- 

1  Du  Peron  in  Carayon,  173. 

2  "  La  chapelle  est   faite  d'une  charpente  bien  jolie,  semblable 
presque  en  fa9on  et  grandeur,  a  notre  chapelle  de  St.  Julien."— * 
Ibid.,  183. 

8  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1639,  62. 


224  PRIEST  AND  PAGAN.  [1638-40. 

ter,  one  could  have  seen  them  coming  to  mass,  often 
from  a  considerable  distance,  "as  naked,"  says  Lale- 
mant,  "  as  your  hand,  except  a  skin  over  their  backs 
like  a  mantle,  and  in  the  coldest  weather  a  few  skins 
around  their  feet  and  legs."  They  knelt,  mingled 
with  the  French  mechanics,  before  the  altar,  —  very 
awkwardly  at  first,  for  the  posture  was  new  to  them, 
—  and  all  received  the  sacrament  together :  a  specta- 
cle which,  as  the  missionary  chronicler  declares,  re- 
paid a  hundred  times  all  the  labor  of  their  conversion.1 
Some  of  the  principal  methods  of  conversion  are 
curiously  illustrated  in  a  letter  written  by  Gamier  to 
a  friend  in  France.  "Send  me,"  he  says,  "a  picture 
of  Christ  without  a  beard."  Several  Virgins  are  also 
requested,  together  with  a  variety  of  souls  in  perdi- 
tion, —  times  damnees,  —  most  of  them  to  be  mounted 
in  a  portable  form.  Particular  directions  are  given 
with  respect  to  the  demons,  dragons,  flames,  and 
other  essentials  of  these  works  of  art.  Of  souls  in 
bliss,  —  dimes  bienheureuses,  —  he  thinks  that  one  will 
be  enough.  All  the  pictures  must  be  in  full  face, 
not  in  profile;  and  they  must  look  directly  at  the 
beholder,  with  open  eyes.  The  colors  should  be 
bright;  and  there  must  be  no  flowers  or  animals,  as 
these  distract  the  attention  of  the  Indians.2 

1  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1639,  62. 

2  Gamier,  Lettre  17me,  MS.     These  directions  show  an  excellent 
knowledge  of  Indian  peculiarities.     The  Indian  dislike  of  a  beard 
is  well  known.    Catlin,  the  painter,  once  caused  a  fatal  quarrel 
among  a  party  of  Sioux,  by  representing  one  of  them  in  profile, 
whereupon  he  was  jibed  by  a  rival  as  being  but  half  a  man. 


1638-40.]  CONDITIONS  OF  BAPTISM.  225 

The  first  point  with  the  priests  was  of  course  to 
bring  the  objects  of  their  zeal  to  an  acceptance  of  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Roman  Church ;  but  as 
the  mind  of  the  savage  was  by  no  means  that  beauti- 
ful blank  which  some  have  represented  it,  there  was 
much  to  be  erased  as  well  as  to  be  written.  They 
must  renounce  a  host  of  superstitions,  to  which  they 
were  attached  with  a  strange  tenacity,  or  which  may 
rather  be  said  to  have  been  ingrained  in  their  very 
natures.  Certain  points  of  Christian  morality  were 
also  strongly  urged  by  the  missionaries,  who  insisted 
that  the  convert  should  take  but  one  wife,  and  not 
cast  her  off  without  grave  cause,  and  that  he  should 
renounce  the  gross  license  almost  universal  among 
the  Hurons.  Murder,  cannibalism,  and  several  other 
offences  were  also  forbidden.  Yet  while  laboring  at 
the  work  of  conversion  with  an  energy  never  sur- 
passed, and  battling  against  the  powers  of  darkness 
with  the  mettle  of  paladins,  the  Jesuits  never  had 
the  folly  to  assume  towards  the  Indians  a  dictatorial 
or  overbearing  tone.  Gentleness,  kindness,  and 
patience  were  the  rule  of  their  intercourse.1  They 

1  The  following  passage  from  the  "  Divers  Sentimens,"  before 
cited,  will  illustrate  this  point:  "Pour  conuertir  les  Sauuages,  il 
n'y  faut  pas  tant  de  science  que  de  bonte  et  vertu  bien  solide.  Les 
quatre  Elemens  d'vn  homme  Apostolique  en  la  Nouuelle  France 
sont  1'Affabilite,  I'Humilite',  la  Patience  et  vne  Charite  genereuse. 
Le  zele  trop  ardent  brusle  plus  qu'il  n'eschauffe,  et  gaste  tout ;  il 
faut  vne  grande  magnanimite  et  condescendance,  pour  attirer  peu 
a  peu  ces  Sauuages.  Us  n'entendent  pas  bien  nostre  Theologie, 
mais  ils  entendent  parfaictement  bien  nostre  humilite  et  nostre 
*ffabilite,  et  se  laissent  gaigner." 

So  too  BreTseuf,  in  a  letter  to  Vitelleschi,  General  of  the  Jesuits 
VOL.  i.  — 15 


226  PRIEST   AND   PAGAN.  [1638-40. 

studied  the  nature  of  the  savage,  and  conformed 
themselves  to  it  with  an  admirable  tact.  Far  from 
treating  the  Indian  as  an  alien  and  barbarian,  they 
would  fain  have  adopted  him  as  a  countryman;  and 
they  proposed  to  the  Hurons  that  a  number  of  young 
Frenchmen  should  settle  among  them,  and  marry 
their  daughters  in  solemn  form.  The  listeners  were 
gratified  at  an  overture  so  flattering.  "  But  what  is 
the  use,"  they  demanded,  "of  so  much  ceremony? 
If  the  Frenchmen  want  our  women,  they  are  welcome 
to  come  and  take  them  whenever  they  please,  as  they 
always  used  to  do."1 

The  Fathers  are  well  agreed  that  their  difficulties 
did  not  arise  from  any  natural  defect  of  understand- 
ing on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  who,  according  to 
Chaumonot,  were  more  intelligent  than  the  French 
peasantry,  and  who  in  some  instances  showed  in 
their  way  a  marked  capacity.  It  was  the  inert  mass 
of  pride,  sensuality,  indolence,  and  superstition  that 
opposed  the  march  of  the  Faith,  and  in  which  the 
Devil  lay  intrenched  as  behind  impregnable  breast- 
works.2 

(see  Carayon,  163) :  "  Ce  qu'il  faut  demander,  avant  tout,  des  ouv- 
riers  destines  a  cette  mission,  c'est  une  douceur  inalterable  et  une 
patience  a  toute  epreuve." 

1  Le  Mercier,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1637,  160. 

2  In  this  connection,  the  following  specimen  of  Indian  reasoning 
is  worth  noting.    At  the  height  of  the  pestilence,  a  Huron  said  to 
one  of  the  priests,  "  I  see  plainly  that  your  God  is  angry  with  us 
because  we  will  not  believe  and  obey  him.    Ihonatiria,  where  you 
first  taught  his  word,  is  entirely  ruined.    Then  you  came  here  to 
Oasossane,  and  we  would  not  listen;  so  Ossossane  is  ruined  too. 


1638-40.]  BACKSLIDERS.  227 

It  soon  became  evident  that  it  was  easier  to  make 
a  convert  than  to  keep  him.  Many  of  the  Indians 
clung  to  the  idea  that  baptism  was  a  safeguard 
against  pestilence  and  misfortune;  and  when  the 
fallacy  of  this  notion  was  made  apparent,  their  zeal 
cooled.  Their  only  amusements  consisted  of  feasts, 
dances,  and  games,  many  of  which  were,  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  of  a  superstitious  character;  and  as 
the  Fathers  could  rarely  prove  to  their  own  satisfac- 
tion the  absence  of  the  diabolic  element  in  any  one 
of  them,  they  proscribed  the  whole  indiscriminately, 
to  the  extreme  disgust  of  the  neophyte.  His  coun- 
trymen, too,  beset  him  with  dismal  prognostics,  — 
as  "You  will  kill  no  more  game;"  "All  your  hair 
will  come  out  before  spring;"  and  so  forth.  Vari- 
ous doubts  also  assailed  him  with  regard  to  the  sub- 
stantial advantages  of  his  new  profession ;  and  several 
converts  were  filled  with  anxiety  in  view  of  the  prob- 
able want  of  tobacco  in  Heaven,  saying  that  they 
could  not  do  without  it.1  Nor  was  it  pleasant  to 
these  incipient  Christians,  as  they  sat  in  class  listen- 
ing to  the  instructions  of  their  teacher,  to  find  them- 

This  year  you  have  been  all  through  our  country,  and  found 
scarcely  any  one  who  would  do  what  God  commands ;  therefore  the 
pestilence  is  everywhere."  After  premises  so  hopeful,  the  Fathers 
looked  for  a  satisfactory  conclusion ;  but  the  Indian  proceeded : 
"  My  opinion  is  that  we  ought  to  shut  you  out  from  all  the  houses, 
and  stop  our  ears  when  you  speak  of  God,  so  that  we  cannot  hear. 
Then  we  shall  not  be  so  guilty  of  rejecting  the  truth,  and  he  will 
not  punish  us  so  cruelly."  —  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons, 
1640,  80. 

i  Ibid.,  1639,  80. 


228  PRIEST  AND  PAGAN.  [1638-40. 

selves  and  him  suddenly  made  the  targets  of  a  shower 
of  sticks,  snowballs,  corn-cobs,  and  other  rubbish, 
flung  at  them  by  a  screeching  rabble  of  vagabond 
boys.1 

Yet  while  most  of  the  neophytes  demanded  an 
anxious  and  diligent  cultivation,  there  were  a  few  of 
excellent  promise ;  and  of  one  or  two  especially,  the 
Fathers,  in  the  fulness  of  their  satisfaction,  assure 
us  again  and  again  "  that  they  were  savage  only  in 
name."2 

As  the  town  of  Ihonatiria,  where  the  Jesuits  had 
made  their  first  abode,  was  ruined  by  the  pestilence, 
the  mission  established  there,  and  known  by  the 
name  of  St.  Joseph,  was  removed,  in  the  summer  of 
1638,  to  Teanaustaye",  —  a  large  town  at  the  foot  of  a 
range  of  hills  near  the  southern  borders  of  the  Huron 
territory.  The  Hurons,  this  year,  had  had  unwonted 
successes  in  their  war  with  the  Iroquois,  and  had 
taken,  at  various  times,  nearly  a  hundred  prisoners. 
Many  of  these  were  brought  to  the  seat  of  the  new 
mission  of  St.  Joseph,  and  put  to  death  with  fright- 

1  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1639,  78. 

2  From  June,  1639,  to  June,  1640,  about  a  thousand  persons  were 
baptized.    Of  these,  two  hundred  and  sixty  were  infants,  and  many 
more  were  children.    Very  many  died  soon  after  baptism.     Of  the 
whole  number,  less  than  twenty  were  baptized  in  health,  —  a  num- 
ber much  below  that  of  the  preceding  year. 

The  following  is  a  curious  case  of  precocious  piety.  It  is  that 
of  a  child  at  St.  Joseph :  "  Elle  n'a  que  deux  ans,  et  fait  joliment 
le  signe  de  la  croix,  et  prend  elle-meme  de  1'eau  btmite ;  et  une  fois 
se  mit  a  crier,  sortant  de  la  Chapelle,  a  cause  que  sa  mere  qui 
la  portoit  ne  lui  avoit  donne  le  loisir  d'en  prendre.  II  1'a  fallu  re- 
porter en  prendre." — Lettres  de  Gamier,  MSS. 


1638-40.]      THE  CANNIBALS  AT  ST.  JOSEPH.       229 

ful  tortures,  though  not  before  several  had  been  con- 
verted and  baptized.  The  torture  was  followed,  in 
spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  priests,  by  those 
cannibal  feasts  customary  with  the  Hurons  on  such 
occasions.  Once,  when  the  Fathers  had  been  strenu- 
ous in  their  denunciations,  a  hand  of  the  victim,  duly 
prepared,  was  flung  in  at  their  door,  as  an  invitation 
to  join  in  the  festivity.  As  the  owner  of  the  severed 
member  had  been  baptized,  they  dug  a  hole  in  their 
chapel,  and  buried  it  with  solemn  rites  of  sepulture.1 

1  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1639,  70. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1639,  1640. 
THE  TOBACCO  NATION.  — THE  NEUTRALS. 

A  CHANGE  OF  PLAN.  —  SAINTE  MARIE.  —  MISSION  OF  THE  TOBACCO 
NATION.  —  WINTER  JOURNEYING. — RECEPTION  OF  THE  MISSION- 
ARIES. —  SUPERSTITIOUS  TERRORS.  —  PERIL  OF  GARNIER  AND 
JOGUES.  —  MISSION  OF  THE  NEUTRALS.  —  HURON  INTRIGUES. — 
MIRACLES.  —  FURY  OF  THE  INDIANS.  —  INTERVENTION  OF  SAINT 
MICHAEL.  —  RETURN  TO  SAINTE  MARIE.  —  INTREPIDITY  OF  THE 
PRIESTS. — THEIR  MENTAL  EXALTATION. 

IT  had  been  the  first  purpose  of  the  Jesuits  to  form 
permanent  missions  in  each  of  the  principal  Huron 
towns;  but  before  the  close  of  the  year  1639  the 
difficulties  and  risks  of  this  scheme  had  become  fully 
apparent.  They  resolved,  therefore,  to  establish  one 
central  station,  to  be  a  base  of  operations,  and,  as  it 
were,  a  focus,  whence  the  light  of  the  Faith  should 
radiate  through  all  the  wilderness  around.  It  was 
to  serve  at  once  as  residence,  fort,  magazine,  hospi- 
tal, and  convent.  Hence  the  priests  would  set  forth 
on  missionary  expeditions  far  and  near;  and  hither 
they  might  retire,  as  to  an  asylum,  in  times  of  sick- 
ness or  extreme  peril.  Here  the  neophytes  could  be 
gathered  together,  safe  from  perverting  influences; 
and  here  in  time  a  Christian  settlement,  Hurons 


1639.]  SAINTE  MARIE.  231 

mingled  with  Frenchmen,  might  spring  up  and 
thrive  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross. 

The  site  of  the  new  station  was  admirably  chosen. 
The  little  river  Wye  flows  from  the  southward  into 
the  Matchedash  Bay  of  Lake  Huron,  and  at  about  a 
mile  from  its  mouth  passes  through  a  small  lake. 
The  Jesuits  made  choice  of  the  right  bank  of  the 
Wye,  where  it  issues  from  this  lake;  gained  per- 
mission to  build  from  the  Indians,  though  not  with- 
out difficulty,  and  began  their  labors  with  an  abundant 
energy  and  a  very  deficient  supply  of  workmen  and 
tools.  The  new  establishment  was  called  Sainte 
Marie.  The  house  at  Teanaustaye*  and  the  house 
and  chapel  at  Ossossand  were  abandoned,  and  all  was 
concentrated  at  this  spot.  On  one  hand,  it  had  a 
short  water  communication  with  Lake  Huron;  and 
on  the  other,  its  central  position  gave  the  readiest 
access  to  every  part  of  the  Huron  territory. 

During  the  summer  before,  the  priests  had  made  a 
survey  of  their  field  of  action,  visited  all  the  Huron 
towns,  and  christened  each  of  them  with  the  name  of 
a  saint.  This  heavy  draft  on  the  calendar  was  fol- 
lowed by  another,  for  the  designation  of  the  nine 
towns  of  the  neighboring  and  kindred  people  of  the 
Tobacco  Nation.1  The  Huron  towns  were  portioned 
into  four  districts,  while  those  of  the  Tobacco  Nation 
formed  a  fifth,  and  each  district  was  assigned  to  the 
charge  of  two  or  more  priests.  In  November  and 
December,  they  began  their  missionary  excursions,  — 
1  See  Introduction,  32. 


232  THE  TOBACCO  NATION.  [1639. 

for  the  Indians  were  now  gathered  in  their  settle- 
ments, —  and  journeyed  on  foot  through  the  denuded 
forests,  in  mud  and  snow,  bearing  on  their  backs  the 
vessels  and  utensils  necessary  for  the  service  of  the 
altar. 

The  new  and  perilous  mission  of  the  Tobacco  Na- 
tion fell  to  Gamier  and  Jogues.  They  were  well 
chosen;  and  yet  neither  of  them  was  robust  by  na- 
ture, in  body  or  mind,  though  Jogues  was  noted  for 
personal  activity.  The  Tobacco  Nation  lay  at  the 
distance  of  a  two  days'  journey  from  the  Huron 
towns,  among  the  mountains  at  the  head  of  Notta- 
wassaga  Bay.  The  two  missionaries  tried  to  find  a 
guide  at  Ossossand ;  but  none  would  go  with  them, 
and  they  set  forth  on  their  wild  and  unknown  pil- 
grimage alone. 

The  forests  were  full  of  snow;  and  the  soft,  moist 
flakes  were  still  falling  thickly,  obscuring  the  air, 
beplastering  the  gray  trunks,  weighing  to  the  earth 
the  boughs  of  spruce  and  pine,  and  hiding  every  foot- 
print of  the  narrow  path.  The  Fathers  missed  their 
way,  and  toiled  on  till  night,  shaking  down  at  every 
step  from  the  burdened  branches  a  shower  of  fleecy 
white  on  their  black  cassocks.  Night  overtook  them 
in  a  spruce  swamp.  Here  they  made  a  fire  with 
great  difficulty,  cut  the  evergreen  boughs,  piled  them 
for  a  bed,  and  lay  down.  The  storm  presently 
ceased;  and,  "praised  be  God,"  writes  one  of  the 
travellers,  "we  passed  a  very  good  night."1 

1  Jogues  and  Gamier  in  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1640,  95. 


1639.]  EECEPTION.  233 

In  the  morning  they  breakfasted  on  a  morsel  of 
corn  bread,  and  resuming  their  journey  fell  in  with  a 
small  party  of  Indians,  whom  they  followed  all  day 
without  food.  At  eight  in  the  evening,  they  reached 
the  first  Tobacco  town,  —  a  miserable  cluster  of  bark 
cabins,  hidden  among  forests  and  half  buried  in  snow- 
drifts, where  the  savage  children,  seeing  the  two 
black  apparitions,  screamed  that  Famine  and  the 
Pest  were  coming.  Their  evil  fame  had  gone  before 
them.  They  were  unwelcome  guests;  nevertheless, 
shivering  and  famished  as  they  were  in  the  cold  and 
darkness,  they  boldly  pushed  their  way  into  one  of 
these  dens  of  barbarism.  It  was  precisely  like  a 
Huron  house.  Five  or  six  fires  blazed  on  the  earth- 
ern  floor,  and  around  them  were  huddled  twice  that 
number  of  families,  sitting,  crouching,  standing,  or 
flat  on  the  ground;  old  and  young,  women  and  men, 
children  and  dogs,  mingled  pell-mell.  The  scene 
would  have  been  a  strange  one  by  daylight:  it  was 
doubly  strange  by  the  flicker  and  glare  of  the  lodge- 
fires.  Scowling  brows,  sidelong  looks  of  distrust  and 
fear,  the  screams  of  scared  children,  the  scolding  of 
squaws,  the  growling  of  wolfish  dogs,  —  this  was  the 
greeting  of  the  strangers.  The  chief  man  of  the 
household  treated  them  at  first  with  the  decencies  of 
Indian  hospitality;  but  when  he  saw  them  kneeling 
in  the  litter  and  ashes  at  their  devotions,  his  sup- 
pressed fears  found  vent,  and  he  began  a  loud  har- 
angue addressed  half  to  them  and  half  to  the  Indians : 
"  Now,  what  are  these  okies  doing  ?  They  are  making 


234  THE  NEUTRALS.  [1640. 

charms  to  kill  us,  and  destroy  all  that  the  pest  has 
spared  in  this  house.  I  heard  that  they  were  sorcer- 
ers; and  now,  when  it  is  too  late,  I  believe  it."1  It 
is  wonderful  that  the  priests  escaped  the  tomahawk. 
Nowhere  is  the  power  of  courage,  faith,  and  an  un- 
flinching purpose  more  strikingly  displayed  than  in 
the  record  of  these  missions. 

In  other  Tobacco  towns  their  reception  was  much 
the  same ;  but  at  the  largest,  called  by  them  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul,  they  fared  worse.  They  reached 
it  on  a  winter  afternoon.  Every  door  of  its  capa- 
cious bark-houses  was  closed  against  them ;  and  they 
heard  the  squaws  within  calling  on  the  young  men  to 
go  out  and  split  their  heads,  while  children  screamed 
abuse  at  the  black-robed  sorcerers.  As  night  ap- 
proached, they  left  the  town,  when  a  band  of  young 
men  followed  them,  hatchet  in  hand,  to  put  them  to 
death.  Darkness,  the  forest,  and  the  mountain  fav- 
ored them ;  and,  eluding  their  pursuers,  they  escaped. 
Thus  began  the  mission  of  the  Tobacco  Nation. 

In  the  following  November,  a  yet  more  distant  and 
perilous  mission  was  begun.  Brdbeuf  and  Chau- 
monot  set  out  for  the  Neutral  Nation.  This  fierce 
people,  as  we  have  already  seen,  occupied  that  part 
of  Canada  which  lies  immediately  north  of  Lake 
Erie,  while  a  wing  of  their  territory  extended  across 
the  Niagara  into  Western  New  York.2  In  their  ath- 

1  Lalemant,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1640,  96. 

2  Introduction.    The  river  Niagara  was  at  this  time,  1640,  well 
known  to  the  Jesuits,  though  none  of  them  had  visited  it.    Lale- 


1640.]  PERILS.  235 

letic  proportions,  the  ferocity  of  their  manners,  and 
the  extravagance  of  their  superstitions,  no  American 
tribe  has  ever  exceeded  them.  They  carried  to  a 
preposterous  excess  the  Indian  notion  that  insanity 
is  endowed  with  a  mysterious  and  superhuman  power. 
Their  country  was  full  of  pretended  maniacs,  who  to 
propitiate  their  guardian  spirits,  or  okies,  and  acquire 
the  mystic  virtue  which  pertained  to  madness,  raved 
stark  naked  through  the  villages,  scattering  the 
brands  of  the  lodge-fires,  and  upsetting  everything 
in  their  way. 

The  two  priests  left  Sainte  Marie  on  the  second  ot 
November,  found  a  Huron  guide  at  St.  Joseph,  and 
after  a  dreary  march  of  five  days  through  the  forest, 
reached  the  first  Neutral  town.  Advancing  thence, 
they  visited  in  turn  eighteen  others ;  and  their  pro- 

mant  speaks  of  it  as  the  "  famous  river  of  this  nation  "  (the  Neu- 
trals). The  following  translation,  from  his  Relation  of  1641,  shows 
that  both  Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Erie  had  already  taken  their 
present  names :  — 

"  This  river  [the  Niagara]  is  the  same  by  which  our  great  lake  of 
the  Hurons,  or  Fresh  Sea,  discharges  itself,  in  the  first  place,  into 
Lake  Erie  (le  lac  d'Erie),  or  the  Lake  of  the  Cat  Nation.  Then  it 
enters  the  territories  of  the  Neutral  Nation,  and  takes  the  name  of 
Onguiaahra  (Niagara),  until  it  discharges  itself  into  Ontario,  or  the 
Lake  of  St.  Louis ;  whence  at  last  issues  the  river  which  passes 
before  Quebec,  and  is  called  the  St.  Lawrence."  He  makes  no 
allusion  to  the  cataract,  which  is  first  mentioned  as  follows  by 
Kagueneau,  in  the  Relation  of  1648 :  — 

"  Nearly  south  of  this  same  Neutral  Nation  there  is  a  great  lake, 
about  two  hundred  leagues  in  circuit,  named  Erie  (Erie'),  which  is 
formed  by  the  discharge  of  the  Fresh  Sea,  and  which  precipitates 
itself  by  a  cataract  of  frightful  height  into  a  third  lake,  named 
Ontario,  which  we  call  Lake  St.  Louis."  —  Relation  des  Hurons, 
1648,  46. 


236  THE  NEUTRALS.  [1640. 

gress  was  a  storm  of  maledictions.  Bre'beuf  espe- 
cially was  accounted  the  most  pestilent  of  sorcerers. 
The  Hurons,  restrained  by  a  superstitious  awe,  and 
unwilling  to  kill  the  priests,  lest  they  should  embroil 
themselves  with  the  French  at  Quebec,  conceived 
that  their  object  might  be  safely  gained  by  stirring 
up  the  Neutrals  to  become  their  executioners.  To 
that  end,  they  sent  two  emissaries  to  the  Neutral 
towns,  who,  calling  the  chiefs  and  young  warriors  to 
a  council,  denounced  the  Jesuits  as  destroyers  of  the 
human  race,  and  made  their  auditors  a  gift  of  nine 
French  hatchets  on  condition  that  they  would  put 
them  to  death.  It  was  now  that  Bre'beuf,  fully  con- 
scious of  the  danger,  half  starved  and  half  frozen, 
driven  with  revilings  from  every  door,  struck  and 
spit  upon  by  pretended  maniacs,  beheld  in  a  vision 
that  great  cross  which,  as  we  have  seen,  moved  on- 
ward through  the  air,  above  the  wintry  forests  that 
stretched  towards  the  land  of  the  Iroquois.1 

Chaumonot  records  yet  another  miracle:  "One 
evening,  when  all  the  chief  men  of  the  town  were 
deliberating  in  council  whether  to  put  us  to  death, 
Father  Bre'beuf,  while  making  his  examination  of 
conscience,  as  we  were  together  at  prayers,  saw  the 
vision  of  a  spectre,  full  of  fury,  menacing  us  both 
with  three  javelins  which  he  held  in  his  hands. 
Then  he  hurled  one  of  them  at  us ;  but  a  more  pow- 
erful hand  caught  it  as  it  flew :  and  this  took  place  a 
second  and  a  third  time,  as  he  hurled  his  two  remain- 
1  See  ante,  p.  198. 


1646.]  THE  ARCHANGEL  MICHAEL. 

ing  javelins.  .  .  .  Late  at  night  our  host  came  back 
from  the  council,  where  the  two  Huron  emissaries 
had  made  their  gift  of  hatchets  to  have  us  killed. 
He  wakened  us  to  say  that  three  times  we  had  been 
at  the  point  of  death ;  for  the  young  men  had  offered 
three  times  to  strike  the  blow,  and  three  times  the 
old  men  had  dissuaded  them.  This  explained  the 
meaning  of  Father  Brdbeuf's  vision."1 

They  had  escaped  for  the  time;  but  the  Indians 
agreed  among  themselves  that  thenceforth  no  one 
should  give  them  shelter.  At  night,  pierced  with 
cold  and  faint  with  hunger,  they  found  every  door 
closed  against  them.  They  stood  and  watched,  saw 
an  Indian  issue  from  a  house,  and  by  a  quick  move- 
ment pushed  through  the  half-open  door  into  this 
abode  of  smoke  and  filth.  The  inmates,  aghast  at 
their  boldness,  stared  in  silence.  Then  a  messenger 
ran  out  to  carry  the  tidings,  and  an  angry  crowd 
collected. 

"  Go  out,  and  leave  our  country,"  said  an  old  chief, 
"  or  we  will  put  you  into  the  kettle,  and  make  a  feast 
of  you." 

"I  have  had  enough  of  the  dark-colored  flesh  of 
our  enemies,"  said  a  young  brave;  "I  wish  to  know 
the  taste  of  white  meat,  and  I  will  eat  yours." 

A  warrior  rushed  in  like  a  madman,  drew  his  bow, 

and  aimed  the  arrow  at  Chaumonot.     "I  looked  at 

him  fixedly,"  writes  the  Jesuit,    "and   commended 

myself  in  full  confidence  to  St.  Michael.     Without 

1  Chaumonot,  Vie,  55. 


238  THE  NEUTRALS.  [1640. 

doubt,  this  great  archangel  saved  us;  for  almost 
immediately  the  fury  of  the  warrior  was  appeased, 
and  the  rest  of  our  enemies  soon  began  to  listen  to 
the  explanation  we  gave  them  of  our  visit  to  their 
country."1 

The  mission  was  barren  of  any  other  fruit  than 
hardship  and  danger,  and  after  a  stay  of  four  months 
the  two  priests  resolved  to  return.  On  the  way,  they 
met  a  genuine  act  of  kindness.  A  heavy  snow- 
storm arresting  their  progress,  a  Neutral  woman 
took  them  into  her  lodge,  entertained  them  for  two 
weeks  with  her  best  fare,  persuaded  her  father  and 
relatives  to  befriend  them,  and  aided  them  to  make 
a  vocabulary  of  the  dialect.  Bidding  their  generous 
hostess  farewell,  they  journeyed  northward,  through 
the  melting  snows  of  spring,  and  reached  Sainte 
Marie  in  safety.2 

The  Jesuits  had  borne  all  that  the  human  frame 
seems  capable  of  bearing.  They  had  escaped  as  by 
miracle  from  torture  and  death.  Did  their  zeal  flag 
or  their  courage  fail?  A  fervor  intense  and  un- 
quenchable urged  them  on  to  more  distant  and  more 

1  Chaumonot,  Vie,  57. 

2  Lalemant,  in  his  Relation  of  1641,  gives  1he  narrative  of  this 
mission  at    length.     His    account    coincides    perfectly    with    the 
briefer  notice  of  Chaumonot  in  his  Autobiography.     Chaumonot 
describes  the  difficulties  of  the  journey  very  graphically  in  a  letter 
to  his  friend,  Father  Nappi,  dated  Aug.  3,  1640,  preserved  in  Cara- 
yon.     See  also  the  next  letter,  Brebeufau  T.  R.  P.  Mutio  Vitelleschi, 
20  Aovt,  1641. 

The  Recollet  La  Roche  Dallion  had  visited  the  Neutrals  four- 
teen years  before  (see  Introduction,  35,  note),  and,  like  his  two 
successors,  had  been  seriously  endangered  by  Huron  intrigues. 


1640.]  MENTAL  EXALTATION.  239 

deadly  ventures.  The  beings,  so  near  to  mortal 
sympathies,  so  human,  yet  so  divine,  in  whom  their 
faith  impersonated  and  dramatized  the  great  princi- 
ples of  Christian  truth,  —  virgins,  saints,  and  angels, 
—  hovered  over  them,  and  held  before  their  raptured 
sight  crowns  of  glory  and  garlands  of  immortal  bliss. 
They  burned  to  do,  to  suffer,  and  to  die ;  and  now, 
from  out  a  living  martyrdom,  they  turned  their  heroic 
gaze  towards  an  horizon  dark  with  perils  yet  more 
appalling,  and  saw  in  hope  the  day  when  they  should 
bear  the  cross  into  the  blood-stained  dens  of  the 
Iroquois.1 

But  in  this  exaltation  and  tension  of  the  powers 
was  there  no  moment  when  the  recoil  of  Nature 
claimed  a  temporary  sway?  When  an  exile  from 
his  kind,  alone,  beneath  the  desolate  rock  and  the 
gloomy  pine-trees,  the  priest  gazed  forth  on  the  piti- 
less wilderness  and  the  hovels  of  its  dark  and  ruth- 
less tenants,  his  thoughts,  it  may  be,  flew  longingly 
beyond  those  wastes  of  forest  and  sea  that  lay  be- 
tween him  and  the  home  of  his  boyhood ;  or  rather, 
led  by  a  deeper  attraction,  they  revisited  the  ancient 
centre  of  his  faith,  and  he  seemed  to  stand  once  more 
in  that  gorgeous  temple,  where,  shrined  in  lazuli  and 
gold,  rest  the  hallowed  bones  of  Loyola.  Column 
and  arch  and  dome  rise  upon  his  vision,  radiant  in 
painted  light,  and  trembling  with  celestial  music. 

1  This  zeal  was  in  no  degree  due  to  success ;  for  in  1641,  after 
seven  years  of  toil,  the  mission  counted  only  about  fifty  living 
converts,  —  a  falling  off  from  former  years. 


240  THE  NEUTRALS.  [1640. 

Again  he  kneels  before  the  altar,  from  whose  tabla- 
ture  beams  upon  him  that  loveliest  of  shapes,  in 
which  the  imagination  of  man  has  embodied  the  spirit 
of  Christianity.  The  illusion  overpowers  him.  A 
thrill  shakes  his  frame,  and  he  bows  in  reverential 
rapture.  No  longer  a  memory,  no  longer  a  dream, 
but  a  visioned  presence,  distinct  and  luminous  in  the 
forest  shades,  the  Virgin  stands  before  him.  Pros- 
trate on  the  rocky  earth,  he  adores  the  .benign  angel 
of  his  ecstatic  faith,  then  turns  with  rekindled  fer- 
vors to  his  stern  apostleship. 

Now,  by  the  shores  of  Thunder  Bay,  the  Huron 
traders  freight  their  birch  vessels  for  their  yearly 
voyage;  and,  embarked  with  them,  let  us,  too,  re- 
visit the  rock  of  Quebec. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1636-1646. 
QUEBEC  AND  ITS  TENANTS. 

•THE  NEW  GOVERNOR.  —  EDIFYING  EXAMPLES.  —  LE  JEUNE'S  CORRE- 
SPONDENTS.—  RANK  AND  DEVOTION. — NUNS.  —  PRIESTLY  AU- 
THORITY. —  CONDITION  OF  QUEBEC.  —  THE  HUNDRED  ASSOCIATES. 
—  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.  —  PLAYS.  —  FIREWORKS.  —  PROCES- 
SIONS. —  CATECHISING.  —  TERRORISM.  —  PICTURES.  — THE  CON- 
VERTS.—  THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS. — THE  FORESTERS. 

I  HAVE  traced,  in  another  volume,  the  life  and 
death  of  the  noble  founder  of  New  France,  Samuel 
de  Champlain.  It  was  on  Christmas  Day,  1635,  that 
his  heroic  spirit  bade  farewell  to  the  frame  it  had 
animated,  and  to  the  rugged  cliff  where  he  had  toiled 
so  long  to  lay  the  corner-stone  of  a  Christian  empire. 

Quebec  was  without  a  governor.  Who  should  suc- 
ceed Champlain;  and  would  his  successor  be  found 
equally  zealous  for  the  Faith,  and  friendly  to  the 
mission?  These  doubts,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  agi* 
tated  the  mind  of  the  Father  Superior,  Le  Jeune. 
but  they  were  happily  set  at  rest,  when,  on  a  morn- 
ing in  June,  he  saw  a  ship  anchoring  in  the  basin 
below,  and  hastening  with  his  brethren  to  the  land^ 
ing-place,  was  there  met  by  Charles  Huault  de  Mont 
magny,  a  Knight  of  Malta,  followed  by  a  train  of 
officers  and  gentlemen.  As  they  all  climbed  the 

VOL.    I.  —  16 


242  QUEBEC  AND  ITS  TENANTS.  [1636. 

rock  together,  Montmagny  saw  a  crucifix  planted  by 
the  path.  He  instantly  fell  on  his  knees  before  it; 
and  nobles,  soldiers,  sailors,  and  priests  imitated  his 
example.  The  Jesuits  sang  Te  Deurn  at  the  church, 
and  the  cannon  roared  from  the  adjacent  fort.  Here 
the  new  governor  was  scarcely  installed,  when  a  Jes- 
uit came  in  to  ask  if  he  would  be  godfather  to  an 
Indian  about  to  be  baptized.  "Most  gladly,"  replied 
the  pious  Montmagny.  He  repaired  on  the  instant 
to  the  convert's  hut,  with  a  company  of  gayly  appar- 
elled gentlemen;  and  while  the  inmates  stared  in 
amazement  at  the  scarlet  and  embroidery,  he  bestowed 
on  the  dying  savage  the  name  of  Joseph,  in  honor  of 
the  spouse  of  the  Virgin  and  the  patron  of  New 
France.1  Three  days  after,  he  was  told  that  a  dead 
proselyte  was  to  be  buried;  on  which,  leaving  the 
lines  of  the  new  fortification  he  was  tracing,  he  took 
in  hand  a  torch,  De  Lisle  his  lieutenant  took  another, 
Repentigny  and  St.  Jean,  gentlemen  of  his  suite, 
with  a  band  of  soldiers  followed,  two  priests  bore  the 
corpse,  and  thus  all  moved  together  in  procession  to 
the  place  of  burial.  The  Jesuits  were  comforted. 
Champlain  himself  had  not  displayed  a  zeal  so 
edifying.2 

A  considerable  reinforcement  came  out  with  Mont- 

1  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636,  5  (Cramoisy).     "Monsieur  le  Gou- 
verneur  se  transporte  aux  Cabanes  de  ces  pauures  barbares,  suivy 
d'une  leste  Noblesse.    Je  vous  laisse  a  penser  quel  estonnement  a 
ces  Peuples  de  voir  tant  d'ecarlate,  tant  de  personnes  bien  faites 
sous  leurs  toits  d'ecorce  ! " 

2  Ibid.,  83  (Cramoisy). 


1636.]  FERVORS  FOR  THE  MISSION.  243 

magny,  and  among  the  rest  several  men  of  birth  and 
substance,  with  their  families  and  dependants.  "It 
was  a  sight  to  thank  God  for,"  exclaims  Father  Le 
Jeune,  "to  behold  these  delicate  young  ladies  and 
these  tender  infants  issuing  from  their  wooden 
prison,  like  day  from  the  shades  of  night."  The 
Father,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  for  some  years 
past  seen  nothing  but  squaws,  with  papooses  swathed 
like  mummies  and  strapped  to  a  board. 

He  was  even  more  pleased  with  the  contents  of  a 
huge  packet  of  letters  that  was  placed  in  his  hands, 
bearing  the  signatures  of  nuns,  priests,  soldiers,  cour- 
tiers, and  princesses.  A  great  interest  in  the  mis- 
sion had  been  kindled  in  France.  Le  Jeune 's 
printed  Relations  had  been  read  with  avidity;  and 
his  Jesuit  brethren,  who  as  teachers,  preachers,  and 
confessors  had  spread  themselves  through  the  nation, 
had  successfully  fanned  the  rising  flame.  The  Father 
Superior  finds  no  words  for  his  joy.  "Heaven,  "he 
exclaims,  "  is  the  conductor  of  this  enterprise.  Na- 
ture's arms  are  not  long  enough  to  touch  so  many 
hearts."1  He  reads  how,  in  a  single  convent,  thir- 
teen nuns  have  devoted  themselves  by  a  vow  to  the 
work  of  converting  the  Indian  women  and  children; 
how,  in  the  church  of  Montmartre,  a  nun  lies  pros- 
trate day  and  night  before  the  altar,  praying  for  the 
mission;2  how  "the  Carmelites  are  all  on  fire,  the 
Ursulines  full  of  zeal,  the  sisters  of  the  Visitation 

1  "  C'est  Dieu  qui  conduit  cette  entreprise.    La  Nature  n'a  pas 
les  bras  assez  longs,"  etc.  —  Relation,  1636,  3. 

2  Brebeuf,  Relation  des  Hurons,  1636,  76. 


244  QUEBEC  AND  ITS  TENANTS.  [1636. 

have  no  words  to  speak  their  ardor;  "l  how  some  per- 
son unknown,  but  blessed  of  Heaven,  means  to  found 
a  school  for  Huron  children;  how  the  Duchesse 
d'Aiguillon  has  sent  out  six  workmen  to  build  a  hos- 
pital for  the  Indians ;  how,  in  every  house  of  the  Jes- 
uits, young  priests  turn  eager  eyes  towards  Canada ; 
and  how  on  the  voyage  thither  the  devils  raised  a 
tempest,  endeavoring,  in  vain  fury,  to  drown  the 
invaders  of  their  American  domain.2  . 

Great  was  Le  Jeune's  delight  at  the  exalted  rank 
of  some  of  those  who  gave  their  patronage  to  the  mis- 
sion ;  and  again  and  again  his  satisfaction  flows  from 
his  pen  in  mysterious  allusions  to  these  eminent  per- 
sons.3 In  his  eyes,  the  vicious  imbecile  who  sat  on 
the  throne  of  France  was  the  anointed  champion  of 
the  Faith,  and  the  cruel  and  ambitious  priest  who 
ruled  king  and  nation  alike  was  the  chosen  instru- 
ment of  Heaven.  Church  and  State,  linked  in  alli- 
ance close  and  potential,  played  faithfully  into  each 
other's  hands;  and  that  enthusiasm,  in  which  the 
Jesuit  saw  the  direct  inspiration  of  God,  was  fos- 

1  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636,  6.      Compare  "Divers  Sentimens," 
appended  to  the  Relation  of  1635. 

2  "  L'Enf er  enrageant  de  nous  veoir  aller  en  la  Nouuelle  France 
pour   conuertir  les  infidelles  et   diminuer  sa  puissance,  par  depit 
il  sousleuoit  tous  les  Elemens  centre  nous,  et  vouloit  abysmer  la 
flotte." — Divers  Sentimens. 

8  Among  his  correspondents  was  the  young  Due  d'Enghien, 
afterwards  the  Great  Conde,  at  this  time  fifteen  years  old.  "  Dieu 
soit  loiie !  tout  le  ciel  de  nostre  chere  Patrie  nous  promet  de  fauor- 
ables  influences,  iusques  a  ce  nouuel  astre,  qui  commence  a  pa- 
roistre  parmy  ceux  de  la  premiere  grandeur."  —  Le  Jeune,  Relation, 
1636,  3,  4. 


Duchesse  d  'Aiguillon. 


[1636. 

some  per- 
s  to  found 


•no  sat  on 

lamnion  of 


"France 


1636-46.]  PRIESTLY  AUTHORITY.  245 

tered  by  all  the  prestige  of  royalty  and  all  the  patron- 
age of  power.  And,  as  often  happens  where  the 
interests  of  a  hierarchy  are  identified  with  the  inter- 
ests of  a  ruling  class,  religion  was  become  a  fashion, 
as  graceful  and  as  comforting  as  the  courtier's  em- 
broidered mantle  or  the  court  lady's  robe  of  fur. 

Such,  we  may  well  believe,  was  the  complexion  of 
the  enthusiasm  which  animated  some  of  Le  Jeune's 
noble  and  princely  correspondents.  But  there  were 
deeper  fervors,  glowing  in  the  still  depths  of  convent 
cells,  and  kindling  the  breasts  of  their  inmates  with 
quenchless  longings.  Yet  we  hear  of  no  zeal  for  the 
mission  among  religious  communities  tof  men.  The 
Jesuits  regarded  the  field  as  their  own,  and  desired 
no  rivals.  They  looked  forward  to  the  day  when 
Canada  should  be  another  Paraguay.1  It  was  to  the 
combustible  hearts  of  female  recluses  that  the  torch 
was  most  busily  applied;  and  here,  accordingly, 
blazed  forth  a  prodigious  and  amazing  flame.  "If 
all  had  their  pious  will,"  writes  Le  Jeune,  "Quebec 
would  soon  be  flooded  with  nuns."2 

Both  Montmagny  and  De  Lisle  were  half  church- 
men, for  both  were  Knights  of  Malta.  More  and 
more  the  powers  spiritual  engrossed  the  colony.  As 
nearly  as  might  be,  the  sword  itself  was  in  priestly 
hands.  The  Jesuits  were  all  in  all.  Authority,  ab- 

1  "  Que  si  celuy  qui  a  escrit  cette  lettre  a  leu  la  Kelation  de  ce 
qui  se  passe  au  Paraguais,  qu'il  a  veu  ce  qui  se  fera  un  jour  en  la 
Nouuelle  France."  —  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1637,  304  (Cramoisy). 

2  Chaulmer,  Le  Nouveau  Monde    Chrestien,  41,  is  eloquent   on 
this  theme. 


246  QUEBEC  AND  ITS  TENANTS.  [1640. 

solute,  and  without  appeal,  was  vested  in  a  council 
composed  of  the  governor,  Le  Jeune,  and  the  syndic, 
an  official  supposed  to  represent  the  interests  of  the 
inhabitants.1  There  was  no  tribunal  of  justice,  and 
the  governor  pronounced  summarily  on  all  complaints. 
The  church  adjoined  the  fort;  and  before  it  was 
planted  a  stake  bearing  a  placard  with  a  prohibition 
against  blasphemy,  drunkenness,  or  neglect  of  mass 
and  other  religious  rites.  To  the  stake  was  also 
attached  a  chain  and  iron  collar;  and  hard  by  was  a 
wooden  horse,  whereon  a  culprit  was  now  and  then 
mounted  by  way  of  example  and  warning.2  In  a 
community  so  absolutely  priest-governed,  overt  of- 
fences were,  however,  rare ;  and  except  on  the  annual 
arrival  of  the  ships  from  France,  when  the  rock 
swarmed  with  godless  sailors,  Quebec  was  a  model 
of  decorum,  and  wore,  as  its  chroniclers  tell  us,  an 
aspect  unspeakably  edifying. 

In  the  year  1640,  various  new  establishments  of 
religion  and  charity  might  have  been  seen  at  Quebec. 
There  was  the  beginning  of  a  college  and  a  seminary 
for  Huron  children,  an  embryo  Ursuline  convent,  an 
incipient  hospital,  and  a  new  Algonquin  mission  at  a 
place  called  Sillery,  four  miles  distant.  Champlain's 
fort  had  been  enlarged  and  partly  rebuilt  in  stone  by 
Montmagny,  who  had  also  laid  out  streets  on  the 
site  of  the  future  city,  though  as  yet  the  streets  had 
no  houses.  Behind  the  fort,  and  very  near  it,  stood 

1  Le  Clerc,  Jftablissement  de  la  Foy,  chap.  xv. 

2  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636, 153, 154  (Cramoisy). 


1640.]  THE  HUNDRED  ASSOCIATES.  247 

the  church  and  a  house  for  the  Jesuits.  Both  were 
of  pine  wood;  and  this  year,  1640,  both  were  burned 
to  the  ground,  to  be  afterwards  rebuilt  in  stone.  The 
Jesuits,  however,  continued  to  occupy  their  rude 
mission-house  of  Notre-Dame  des  Anges,  on  the  St. 
Charles,  where  we  first  found  them. 

The  country  around  Quebec  was  still  an  unbroken 
wilderness,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  clearing 
made  by  the  Sieur  Giffard  on  his  seigniory  of  Beau- 
port,  another  made  by  M.  de  Puiseaux  between  Que- 
bec and  Sillery,  and  possibly  one  or  two  feeble 
attempts  in  other  quarters.1  The  total  population 
did  not  much  exceed  two  hundred,  including  women 
and  children.  Of  this  number,  by  far  the  greater 
part  were  agents  of  the  fur  company  known  as  the 
"Hundred  Associates,"  and  men  in  their  employ. 
Some  of  these  had  brought  over  their  families.  The 
remaining  inhabitants  were  priests,  nuns,  and  a  very- 
few  colonists. 

The  Company  of  the  Hundred  Associates  was 
bound  by  its  charter  to  send  to  Canada  four  thou- 
sand colonists  before  the  year  1643. 2  It  had  neither 
the  means  nor  the  will  to  fulfil  this  engagement. 
Some  of  its  members  were  willing  to  make  personal 
sacrifices  for  promoting  the  missions,  and  building  up 

1  For  Giffard,  Puiseaux,  and  other  colonists,  compare  Langevin, 
Notes  sur  les  Archives  de  Notre-Dame  de  Beauport,  5,  6,  7 ;  Ferland, 
Notes  sur  les  Archives  de  N.  D.  de  Quebec,  22,  24  (1863)  ;  Ibid.,  Cours 
d'Histoire  du  Canada,  i.  266 ;  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636,  45 ;  Faillon, 
Histoire  de  la  Colonie  Franyaise,  I.  c.  iv.,  v. 

2  See  "Pioneers  of  France,"  ii.259. 


248  QUEBEC  AND  ITS  TENANTS.  [1640. 

a  colony  purely  Catholic.  Others  thought  only  of 
the  profits  of  trade;  and  the  practical  affairs  of  the 
company  had  passed  entirely  into  the  hands  of  this 
portion  of  its  members.  They  sought  to  evade  obli- 
gations the  fulfilment  of  which  would  have  ruined 
them.  Instead  of  sending  out  colonists,  they  granted 
lands  with  the  condition  that  the  grantees  should  fur- 
nish a  certain  number  of  settlers  to  clear  and  till 
them,  and  these  were  to  be  credited  to  the  Company.1 
The  grantees  took  the  land,  but  rarely  fulfilled  the 
condition.  Some  of  these  grants  were  corrupt  and 
iniquitous.  Thus,  a  son  of  Lauson,  president  of  the 
Company,  received,  in  the  name  of  a  third  person,  a 
tract  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
of  sixty  leagues  front.  To  this  were  added  all  the 
islands  in  that  river,  excepting  those  of  Montreal  and 
Orleans,  together  with  the  exclusive  right  of  fishing 
in  it  through  its  whole  extent.2  Lauson  sent  out  not 
a  single  colonist  to  these  vast  concessions. 

There  was  no  real  motive  for  emigration.  No  per- 
secution expelled  the  colonist  from  his  home;  for 
none  but  good  Catholics  were  tolerated  in  New 
France.  The  settler  could  not  trade  with  the  In- 

1  This  appears  in  many  early  grants  of  the  Company.    Thus,  in 
a  grant  to  Simon  Le  Maitre,  Jan.  15,  1636,  "  que  les  hommes  que  le 
dit  .  .  .    fera  passer  en  la  N.  F.  tourneront  a  la  decharge  de  la  dite 
Compagnie,"  etc.,  etc.  —  See  Pieces  sur  la  Tenure  Seigneuriale,  pub- 
lished by  the  Canadian  government,  passim. 

2  Archives   du  Seminaire  de   Villemarie,   cited  by  Faillon,  i.  350. 
Lauson's  father  owned  Montreal.    The  son's  grant  extended  from 
the  river  St.  Francis  to  a  point  far  above  Montreal.  —  La  Fontaine, 
Memoire  sur  la  Famille  de  Lauson. 


1640.]  CONVENTS.  —  HOSPITALS.  249 

dians,  except  on  condition  of  selling  again  to  the 
Company  at  a  fixed  price.  He  might  hunt,  but  he 
could  not  fish ;  and  he  was  forced  to  beg  or  buy  food 
for  years  before  he  could  obtain  it  from  that  rude  soil 
in  sufficient  quantity  for  the  wants  of  his  family. 
The  Company  imported  provisions  every  year  for 
those  in  its  employ;  and  of  these  supplies  a  portion 
was  needed  for  the  relief  of  starving  settlers.  Giffard 
and  his  seven  men  on  his  seigniory  of  Beauport  were 
for  some  time  the  only  settlers  —  excepting,  perhaps, 
the  Hubert  family  —  who  could  support  themselves 
throughout  the  year.  The  rigor  of  the  climate  re- 
pelled the  emigrant;  nor  were  the  attractions  which 
Father  Le  Jeune  held  forth  —  "  piety,  freedom,  and 
independence  "  —  of  a  nature  to  entice  him  across  the 
sea,  when  it  is  remembered  that  this  freedom  con- 
sisted in  subjection  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  a  priest 
and  a  soldier,  and  in  the  liability,  should  he  forget 
to  go  to  mass,  of  being  made  fast  to  a  post  with  a 
collar  and  chain,  like  a  dog. 

Aside  from  the  fur  trade  of  the  Company,  the 
whole  life  of  the  colony  was  in  missions,  convents, 
religious  schools,  and  hospitals.  Here  on  the  rock  of 
Quebec  were  the  appendages,  useful  and  otherwise, 
of  an  old-established  civilization.  While  as  yet  there 
were  no  inhabitants,  and  no  immediate  hope  of  any, 
there  were  institutions  for  the  care  of  children,  the 
sick,  and  the  decrepit.  All  these  were  supported  by 
a  charity  in  most  cases  precarious.  The  Jesuits  re- 
lied chiefly  on  the  Company,  who  by  the  terms  of 


250  QUEBEC   AND  ITS   TENANTS.  [1640. 

their  patent  were  obliged  to  maintain  religious  wor- 
ship.1 Of  the  origin  of  the  convent,  hospital,  and 
seminary  I  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  speak. 

Quebec  wore  an  aspect  half  military,  half  monastic. 
At  sunrise  and  sunset,  a  squad  of  soldiers  in  the  pay 
of  the  Company  paraded  in  the  fort;  and,  as  in 
Champlain's  time,  the  bells  of  the  church  rang  morn- 
ing, noon,  and  night.  Confessions,  masses,  and  pen- 
ances were  punctiliously  observed;  and,  from  the 
governor  to  the  meanest  laborer,  the  Jesuit  watched 
and  guided  all.  The  social  atmosphere  of  New  Eng- 
land itself  was  not  more  suffocating.  By  day  and  by 
night,  at  home,  at  church,  or  at  his  daily  work,  the 
colonist  lived  under  the  eyes  of  busy  and  over-zealous 
priests.  At  times,  the  denizens  of  Quebec  grew  rest- 
less. In  1639,  deputies  were  covertly  sent  to  beg 
relief  in  France,  and  "  to  represent  the  hell  in  which 
the  consciences  of  the  colony  were  kept  by  the  union 
of  the  temporal  and  spiritual  authority  in  the  same 
hands."2  In  1642,  partial  and  ineffective  measures 

1  It  is  a  principle  of  the  Jesuits,  that  each  of  its  establishments 
shall  find  a  support  of  its  own,  and  not  be  a  burden  on  the  general 
funds   of  the  Society.    The   Relations  are  full  of  appeals  to  the 
charity  of  devout  persons  in  behalf  of  the  missions. 

"  Of  what  use  to  the  country  at  this  period  could  have  been  two 
communities  of  cloistered  nuns  ?  "  asks  the  modern  historian  of 
the  Ursulines  of  Quebec ;  and  he  answers  by  citing  the  words  of 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  who,  when  Rome  was  ravaged  by  famine, 
pestilence,  and  the  barbarians,  declared  that  his  only  hope  was  in 
the  prayers  of  the  three  thousand  nuns  then  assembled  in  the  holy 
city.  —  Les  Ursulines  de  Quebec.  Introd,,  xi. 

2  "  Pour  leur  representer  la  gehenne  ou  estoient  les  consciences 
de  la  Colonie,  de  se  voir  gouverne  pas  les  mesmes  personnes  pour 
le  spirituel  et  pour  le  temporel."  —  Le  Clerc,  i.  478. 


1636-46.]          THE  PRIEST   AS   A  RULER.  251 

were  taken,  with  the  countenance  of  Richelieu,  for 
introducing  into  New  France  an  Order  less  greedy  of 
seigniories  and  endowments  than  the  Jesuits,  and  less 
prone  to  political  encroachment.1  No  favorable  result 
followed;  and  the  colony  remained  as  before,  in  a 
pitiful  state  of  cramping  and  dwarfing  vassalage. 

This  'is  the  view  of  a  heretic.  It  was  the  aim  of 
the  founders  of  New  France  to  build  on  a  foundation 
purely  and  supremely  Catholic.  What  this  involved 
is  plain;  for  no  degree  of  personal  virtue  is  a  guar- 
anty against  the  evils  which  attach  to  the  temporal 
rule  of  ecclesiastics.  Burning  with  love  and  devotion 
to  Christ  and  his  immaculate  Mother,  the  fervent  and 
conscientious  priest  regards  with  mixed  pity  and  in- 
dignation those  who  fail  in  this  supreme  allegiance. 
Piety  and  charity  alike  demand  that  he  should  bring 
back  the  rash  wanderer  to  the  fold  of  his  divine  Mas- 
ter, and  snatch  him  from  the  perdition  into  which  his 
guilt  must  otherwise  plunge  him.  And  while  he,  the 
priest,  himself  yields  reverence  and  obedience  to  the 
Superior,  in  whom  he  sees  the  representative  of 
Deity,  it  behooves  him,  in  his  degree,  to  require 
obedience  from  those  whom  he  imagines  that  God  has 
confided  to  his  guidance.  His  conscience,  then,  acts 
in  perfect  accord  with  the  love  of  power  innate  in  the 
human  heart.  These  allied  forces  mingle  with  a  per- 
plexing subtlety;  pride,  disguised  even  from  itself, 

1  Declaration  de  Pierre  Breant,  par  devant  les  Notatres  du  Roy,  MS. 
The  Order  was  that  of  the  Capuchins,  who,  like  the  the  Recollets, 
are  a  branch  of  the  Franciscans.  Their  introduction  into  Canada 
was  prevented;  but  they  established  themselves  in  Maine. 


252  QUEBEC  AND  ITS  TENANTS.       [1636-46. 

walks  in  the  likeness  of  love  and  duty ;  and  a  thou- 
sand times  on  the  pages  of  history  we  find  Hell  beguil- 
ing the  virtues  of  Heaven  to  do  its  work.  The 
instinct  of  domination  is  a  weed  that  grows  rank  in 
the  shadow  of  the  temple,  climbs  over  it,  possesses 
it,  covers  its  ruin,  and  feeds  on  its  decay.  The  un- 
checked sway  of  priests  has  always  been  the  most 
mischievous  of  tyrannies;  and  even  were  they  all 
well-meaning  and  sincere,  it  would  be  so  still. 

To  the  Jesuits,  the  atmosphere  of  Quebec  was 
well-nigh  celestial.  "In  the  climate  of  New  France," 
they  write,  "  one  learns  perfectly  to  seek  only  God, 
to  have  no  desire  but  God,  no  purpose  but  for  God." 
And  again :  "  To  live  in  New  France  is  in  truth  to 
live  in  the  bosom  of  God."  "If,"  adds  Le  Jeune, 
"any  one  of  those  who  die  in  this  country  goes  to 
perdition,  I  think  he  will  be  doubly  guilty."1 

The  very  amusements  of  this  pious  community 
were  acts  of  religion.  Thus,  on  the  fete-day  of  St. 
Joseph,  the  patron  of  New  France,  there  was  a  show 
of  fireworks  to  do  him  honor.  In  the  forty  volumes 
of  the  Jesuit  Relations  there  is  but  one  pictorial 
illustration;  and  this  represents  the  pyrotechnic  con- 
trivance in  question,  together  with  a  figure  of  the 

1  "  La  Nouuelle  France  est  vn  vray  climat  ou  on  apprend  par- 
faictement  bien  a  ne  chercher  que  Dieu,  ne  desirer  que  Dieu  seul, 
auoir  1'intention  purement  a  Dieu,  etc.  .  .  .  Viure  en  la  Nouuelle 
France,  c'est  a  vray  dire  viure  dans  le  sein  de  Dieu,  et  ne  respirer 
que  1'air  de  sa  Diuine  conduite."  —  Divers  Sentimens.  "  Si  quelqu'un 
de  ceux  qui  meurent  en  ces  contrees  se  damne,  je  croy  qu'il  sera 
doublement  coupable."  —  Relation,  1640,  5  (Cramoisy). 


1636-46.]  PLAYS. —PROCESSIONS.  253 

Governor  in  the  act  of  touching  it  off.1  But,  what 
is  more  curious,  a  Catholic  writer  of  the  present  day, 
the  Abbd  Faillon,  in  an  elaborate  and  learned  work, 
dilates  at  length  on  the  details  of  the  display;  and 
this,  too,  with  a  gravity  which  evinces  his  conviction 
that  squibs,  rockets,  blue-lights,  and  serpents  are  im- 
portant instruments  for  the  saving  of  souls.2  On 
May-Day  of  the  same  year,  1637,  Montmagny  planted 
before  the  church  a  May-pole  surmounted  by  a  triple 
crown,  beneath  which  were  three  symbolical  circles 
decorated  with  wreaths,  and  bearing  severally  the 
names,  lesus,  Maria,  loseph ;  the  soldiers  drew  up 
before  it,  and  saluted  it  with  a  volley  of  musketry.3 

On  the  anniversary  of  the  Dauphin's  birth  there 
was  a  dramatic  performance,  in  which  an  unbeliever, 
speaking  Algonquin  for  the  profit  of  the  Indians 
present,  was  hunted  into  Hell  by  fiends.4  Religious 
processions  were  frequent.  In  one  of  them,  the 
Governor  in  a  court  dress  and  a  baptized  Indian  in 
beaver-skins  were  joint  supporters  of  the  canopy 
which  covered  the  Host.5  In  another,  six  Indians 
led  the  van,  arrayed  each  in  a  velvet  coat  of  scarlet 
and  gold  sent  them  by  the  King.  Then  came  other 
Indian  converts,  two  and  two;  then  the  foundress 
of  the  Ursuline  convent,  with  Indian  children  in 
French  gowns ;  then  all  the  Indian  girls  and  women, 
dressed  after  their  own  way;  then  the  priests;  then 

1  Relation,  1637,  8.  The  Relations,  as  originally  published,  com- 
prised about  forty  volumes. 

8  Histoire  de  la  Colonie  Franfaise,  i.  291,  292.    8  Relation,  1637,  82. 
*  Vimont,  Relation,  1640,  6.  5  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1638,  6. 


254  QUEBEC   AND  ITS  TENANTS.       [1636-46. 

the  Governor;  and  finally  the  whole  French  popula- 
tion, male  and  female,  except  the  artillery-men  at  the 
fort,  who  saluted  with  their  cannon  the  cross  and 
banner  borne  at  the  head  of  the  procession.  When 
all  was  over,  the  Governor  and  the  Jesuits  rewarded 
the  Indians  with  a  feast.1 

Now  let  the  stranger  enter  the  church  of  Notre* 
Dame  de  la  Recouvrance,  after  vespers.  It  is  full, 
to  the  very  porch,  —  officers  in  slouched  hats  and 
plumes,  musketeers,  pikemen,  mechanics,  and  labor- 
ers. Here  is  Montmagny  himself;  Repentigny  and 
Poterie,  gentlemen  of  good  birth;  damsels  of  nur- 
ture ill-fitted  to  the  Canadian  woods;  and,  mingled 
with  these,  the  motionless  Indians,  wrapped  to  the 
throat  in  embroidered  moose-hides.  Le  Jeune,  not 
in  priestly  vestments,  but  in  the  common  black  dress 
of  his  Order,  is  before  the  altar ;  and  on  either  side  is 
a  row  of  small  red-skinned  children  listening  with 
exemplary  decorum,  while,  with  a  cheerful,  smiling 
face,  he  teaches  them  to  kneel,  clasp  their  hands,  and 
sign  the  cross.  All  the  principal  members  of  this 
zealous  community  are  present,  at  once  amused  and 
edified  at  the  grave  deportment,  and  the  prompt, 
shrill  replies  of  the  infant  catechumens;  while  their 
parents  in  the  crowd  grin  delight  at  the  gifts  of  beads 
and  trinkets  with  which  Le  Jeune  rewards  his  most 
proficient  pupils.2 

We  have  seen  the  methods  of  conversion  practised 

1  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1639,  3. 

2  Ibid.,  1637,  122  (Cramoisy). 


1636-46.]  TERRORISM.  255 

among  the  Hurons.  They  were  much  the  same  at 
Quebec.  The  principal  appeal  was  to  fear.1  "You 
do  good  to  your  friends,"  said  Le  Jeune  to  an  Algon- 
quin chief,  "  and  you  burn  your  enemies.  God  does 
the  same."  And  he  painted  Hell  to  the  startled 
neophyte  as  a  place  where,  when  he  was  hungry,  he 
would  get  nothing  to  eat  but  frogs  and  snakes,  and, 
when  thirsty,  nothing  to  drink  but  flames.2  Pictures 
were  found  invaluable.  "These  holy  representa- 
tions," pursues  the  Father  Superior,  "are  half  the 
instruction  that  can  be  given  to  the  Indians.  I 
wanted  some  pictures  of  Hell  and  souls  in  perdition, 
and  a  few  were  sent  us  on  paper;  but  they  are  too 
confused.  The  devils  and  the  men  are  so  mixed  up, 
that  one  can  make  out  nothing  without  particular 
attention.  If  three,  four,  or  five  devils  were  painted 
tormenting  a  soul  with  different  punishments,  —  one 
applying  fire,  another  serpents,  another  tearing  him 
with  pincers,  and  another  holding  him  fast  with  a 
chain,  —  this  would  have  a  good  effect,  especially  if 
everything  were  made  distinct,  and  misery,  rage,  and 
desperation  appeared  plainly  in  his  face."3 

1  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1636,  119,  and  1637,32  (Cramoisy).     "La 
crainte  est  1'auan  couriere  de  la  foy  dans  ces  esprits  barbares." 

2  Ibid.,  1637,    80-82    (Cramoisy).     "Avoir  faim   et  ne   manger 
que  des  serpens  et   des   crapaux,  avoir  soif  et  ne  boire   quo   des 
flammes." 

8  "  Les  heretiques  sont  grandement  blasmables,  de  condamner  et 
de  briser  les  images  qui  ont  de  si  bons  effets.  Ces  sainctes  figures 
sont  la  moitie  de  1'instruction  qu'on  peut  clonner  aux  Sauuages. 
I'auois  desire  quelqucs  portraits  de  1'enfer  et  de  1'ame  damnee ;  on 
nous  en  a  enuoye  quelques  vns  et  en  papier,  mais  cela  est  trop 
confus.  Les  diables  sont  tellement  meslez  auec  les  hommes,  qu'on 


256  QUEBEC  AND  ITS  TENANTS.       [1636-46. 

The  preparation  of  the  convert  for  baptism  was 
often  very  slight.  A  dying  Algonquin,  who,  though 
meagre  as  a  skeleton,  had  thrown  himself,  with  a  last 
effort  of  expiring  ferocity,  on  an  Iroquois  prisoner, 
and  torn  off  his  ear  with  his  teeth,  was  baptized  al- 
most immediately.1  In  the  case  of  converts  in  health 
there  was  far  more  preparation ;  yet  these  often  apos- 
tatized. The  various  objects  of  instruction  may  all 
be  included  in  one  comprehensive  word,  submission, 
—  an  abdication  of  will  and  judgment  in  favor  of  the 
spiritual  director,  who  was  the  interpreter  and  vice- 
gerent of  God.  The  director's  function  consisted  in 
the  enforcement  of  dogmas  by  which  he  had  himself 
been  subdued,  in  which  he  believed  profoundly,  and 
to  which  he  often  clung  with  an  absorbing  enthusi- 

n'y  peut  rien  recognoistre,  qu'auec  vne  particuliere  attention.  Qui 
depeindroit  trois  ou  quatre  ou  cinq  demons,  tourmentans  vne  ame 
de  diuers  supplices,  1'vn  luy  appliquant  des  f eux,  1'autre  des  serpens, 
1'autre  la  tenaillant,  1'autre  la  tenant  liee  auec  des  chaisnes,  cela 
auroit  vn  bon  effet,  notamment  si  tout  estoit  bien  distingue,  et  que 
la  rage  et  la  tristesse  parussent  bien  en  la  face  de  cette  ame  deses- 
peree."  —  Relation,  1637,  32  (Cramoisy). 

1  "  Ce  seroit  vne  estrange  cruaute  de  voir  descendre  vne  ame 
toute  viuante  dans  les  enfers,  par  le  refus  d'vn  bien  que  lesus 
Christ  luy  a  acquis  au  prix  de  son  sang."  —  Relation,  1637,  66 
(Cramoisy). 

"  Considerez  d'autre  cote  la  grande  apprehension  que  nous 
avions  sujet  de  redouter  la  guerison  ;  pour  autant  que  bien  souvent 
etant  gueris  il  ne  leur  reste  du  St.  Bapteme  que  le  caractere."  — 
Lettres  de  Gamier,  MSS. 

It  was  not  very  easy  to  make  an  Indian  comprehend  the  nature 
of  baptism.  An  Iroquois  at  Montreal,  hearing  a  missionary  speak- 
ing of  the  water  which  cleansed  the  soul  from  sin,  said  that  he  was 
well  acquainted  with  it,  as  the  Dutch  had  once  given  him  so  much 
that  they  were  forced  to  tie  him,  hand  and  foot,  to  prevent  him 
from  doing  mischief.  —  Faillon,  ii.  43. 


1636-46.]  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS.  257 

asm.  The  Jesuits,  an  Order  thoroughly  and  vehe- 
mently reactive,  had  revived  in  Europe  the  mediaeval 
type  of  Christianity,  with  all  its  attendant  supersti- 
tions. Of  these  the  Canadian  missions  bear  abundant 
marks.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  the  labors  of  the  mission- 
aries tended  greatly  to  the  benefit  of  the  Indians. 
Reclaimed,  as  the  Jesuits  tried  to  reclaim  them,  from 
their  wandering  life,  settled  in  habits  of  peaceful  in- 
dustry, and  reduced  to  a  passive  and  childlike  obedi- 
ence, they  would  have  gained  more  than  enough  to 
compensate  them  for  the  loss  of  their  ferocious  and 
miserable  independence.  At  least,  they  would  have 
escaped  annihilation.  The  Society  of  Jesus  aspired 
to  the  mastery  of  all  New  France ;  but  the  methods 
of  its  ambition  were  consistent  with  a  Christian 
benevolence.  Had  this  been  otherwise,  it  would 
have  employed  other  instruments.  It  would  not 
have  chosen  a  Jogues  or  a  Gamier.  The  Society 
had  men  for  every  work,  and  it  used  them  wisely. 
It  utilized  the  apostolic  virtues  of  its  Canadian  mis- 
sionaries, fanned  their  enthusiasm,  and  decorated  it- 
self with  their  martyr  crowns.  With  joy  and  gratu- 
lation,  it  saw  them  rival  in  another  hemisphere  the 
noble  memory  of  its  saint  and  hero,  Francis  Xavier.1 
I  have  spoken  of  the  colonists  as  living  in  a  state 
of  temporal  and  spiritual  vassalage.  To  this  there 
was  one  exception,  —  a  small  class  of  men  whose 

1  Enemies  of  the  Jesuits,  while  denouncing  them  in  unmeasured 
terms,  speak  in  strong  eulogy  of  many  of  the  Canadian  mission' 
aries.  See,  for  example,  Steinmetz,  History  of  the  Jesuits,  ii.  415. 

VOL.  i.  — 17 


258  QUEBEC   AND  ITS  TENANTS.       [1636-46. 

home  was  the  forest,  and  their  companions  savages. 
They  followed  the  Indians  in  their  roamings,  lived 
with  them,  grew  familiar  with  their  language,  allied 
themselves  with  their  women,  and  often  became  ora- 
cles in  the  camp  and  leaders  on  the  war-path. 
Champlain's  bold  interpreter,  Etienne  Braid,  whose 
adventures  I  have  recounted  elsewhere,1  maybe  taken 
as  a  type  of  this  class.  Of  the  rest,  the  most  con- 
spicuous were  Jean  Nicollet,  Jacques  Hertel,  Fran- 
9ois  Marguerie,  and  Nicolas  Marsolet.2  Doubtless, 
when  they  returned  from  their  rovings,  they  often 
had  pressing  need  of  penance  and  absolution;  yet, 
for  the  most  part,  they  were  good  Catholics,  and 
some  of  them  were  zealous  for  the  missions.  Nicollet 
and  others  were  at  times  settled  as  interpreters  at 
Three  Rivers  and  Quebec.  Several  of  them  were 
men  of  great  intelligence  and  an  invincible  courage. 
From  hatred  of  restraint  and  love  of  a  wild  and 
adventurous  independence,  they  encountered  priva- 
tions and  dangers  scarcely  less  than  those  to  which 
the  Jesuit  exposed  himself  from  motives  widely  dif- 
ferent, —  he  from  religious  zeal,  charity,  and  the 
hope  of  Paradise ;  they  simply  because  they  liked  it. 
Some  of  the  best  families  of  Canada  claim  descent 
from  this  vigorous  and  hardy  stock. 

1  "  Pioneers  of  France,"  ii.  234. 

2  See  Ferland,  Notes  sur  les  Rcyistres  de  N.  D.  de  Quebec,  30. 
Nicollet,  especially,  was  a  remarkable  man.    As  early  as  1639, 

he  ascended  the  Green  Bay  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  crossed  to  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi.  This  was  first  shown  by  the  researches 
of  Mr.  Shea.  See  his  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  xx. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

1636-1652. 
DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS. 

THE  HURON  SEMINARY.  —  MADAME  DE  LA  PELTRIE  :  HER  Pious 
SCHEMES  :  HER  SHAM  MARRIAGE  ;  SHE  VISITS  THE  URSULINES 
OF  TOURS.  —  MARIE  DE  SAINT  BERNARD.  —  MARIE  DE  L'!NCAR- 
NATION  :  HER  ENTHUSIASM  J  HER  MYSTICAL  MARRIAGE  J  HER 
DEJECTION  ;  HER  MENTAL  CONFLICTS  ;  HER  VISION  ;  MADE 
SUPERIOR  OF  THE  URSULINES.  —  THE  HOTEL-DIEU.  —  THE  VOY- 
AGE TO  CANADA.  —  SILLERY.  —  LABORS  AND  SUFFERINGS  OF  THE 
NUNS.  —  CHARACTER  OF  MARIE  DE  L'!NCARNATION.  —  OF  MA- 
DAME DE  LA  PELTRIE. 

QUEBEC,  as  we  have  seen,  had  a  seminary,  a  hospi- 
tal, and  a  convent,  before  it  had  a  population.  It 
will  be  well  to  observe  the  origin  of  these  institutions. 

The  Jesuits  from  the  first  had  cherished  the  plan 
of  a  seminary  for  Huron  boys  at  Quebec.  The  Gov- 
ernor and  the  Company  favored  the  design;  since  not 
only  would  it  be  an  efficient  means  of  spreading  the 
Faith  and  attaching  the  tribe  to  the  French  interest, 
but  the  children  would  be  pledges  for  the  good  be- 
havior of  the  parents,  and  hostages  for  the  safety  of 
missionaries  and  traders  in  the  Indian  towns.1  In 

1  "  M.  de  Montmagny  cognoit  bien  1'importance  de  ce  Seminaire 
pour  la  gloire  de  Nostre  Seigneur,  et  pour  le  Commerce  de  ces 
Messieurs."  —  Relation,  1037,  209  (Cramoisy). 


260  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1620-36. 

the  summer  of  1636,  Father  Daniel,  descending  from 
the  Huron  country,  worn,  emaciated,  his  cassock 
patched  and  tattered,  and  his  shirt  in  rags,  brought 
with  him  a  boy,  to  whom  two  others  were  soon 
added;  and  through  the  influence  of  the  interpreter, 
Nicollet,  the  number  was  afterwards  increased  by 
several  more.  One  of  them  ran  away,  two  ate  them- 
selves to  death,  a  fourth  was  carried  home  by  his 
father,  while  three  of  those  remaining  stole  a  canoe, 
loaded  it  with  all  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon, 
and  escaped  in  triumph  with  their  plunder.1 

The  beginning  was  not  hopeful;  but  the  Jesuits 
persevered,  and  at  length  established  their  seminary 
on  a  firm  basis.  The  Marquis  de  Gamache  had  given 
the  Society  six  thousand  crowns  for  founding  a  col- 
lege at  Quebec.  In  1637,  a  year  before  the  building 
of  Harvard  College,  the  Jesuits  began  a  wooden 
structure  in  the  rear  of  the  fort;  and  here,  within 
one  enclosure,  was  the  Huron  seminary  and  the  col- 
lege for  French  boys. 

Meanwhile  the  female  children  of  both  races  were 
without  instructors ;  but  a  remedy  was  at  hand.  At 
Alenqon,  in  1603,  was  born  Marie  Madeleine  de 
Chauvigny,  a  scion  of  the  haute  noblesse  of  Normandy. 
Seventeen  years  later  she  was  a  young  lady,  abun- 
dantly wilful  and  superabundantly  enthusiastic,  — 
one  who,  in  other  circumstances,  might  perhaps  have 
made  a  romantic  elopement  and  a  mesalliance.*  But 

1  Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1637,  55-59.    Ibid.,  Relation,  1638,  23. 

-  There  is  a  portrait  of  her,  taken  at  a  later  period,  of  which  a 


1626-36.]          MADAME  DE  LA  PELTRIE.  261 

her  impressible  and  ardent  nature  was  absorbed  in 
other  objects.  Religion  and  its  ministers  possessed 
her  wholly,  and  all  her  enthusiasm  was  spent  on 
works  of  charity  and  devotion.  Her  father,  passion- 
ately fond  of  her,  resisted  her  inclination  for  the 
cloister,  and  sought  to  wean  her  back  to  the  world ; 
but  she  escaped  from  the  chateau  to  a  neighboring 
convent,  where  she  resolved  to  remain.  Her  father 
followed,  carried  her  home,  and  engaged  her  in  a 
round  of  fetes  and  hunting  parties,  in  the  midst  of 
which  she  found  herself  surprised  into  a  betrothal  to 
M.  de  la  Peltrie,  a  young  gentleman  of  rank  and 
character.  The  marriage  proved  a  happy  one,  and 
Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  with  an  excellent  grace,  bore 
her  part  in  the  world  she  had  wished  to  renounce. 
After  a  union  of  five  years,  her  husband  died,  and 
she  was  left  a  widow  and  childless  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two.  She  returned  to  the  religious  ardors  of 
her  girlhood,  again  gave  all  her  thoughts  to  devotion 
and  charity,  and  again  resolved  to  be  a  nun.  She 
had  heard  of  Canada;  and  when  Le  Jeune's  first 
Relations  appeared,  she  read  them  with  avidity. 
"Alas!"  wrote  the  Father,  "is  there  no  charitable 
and  virtuous  lady  who  will  come  to  this  country  to 
gather  up  the  blood  of  Christ,  by  teaching  His  word 
to  the  little  Indian  girls?"  His  appeal  found  a 

photograph  is  before  me.  She  has  a  semi-religious  dress,  hands 
clasped  in  prayer,  large  dark  eyes,  a  smiling  and  mischievous 
mouth,  and  a  face  somewhat  pretty  and  very  coquettish.  An 
engraving  from  the  portrait  is  prefixed  to  the  "  Notice  Biographique 
de  Madame  de  la  Peltrie  "  in  Les  Ursulines  de  Quebec,  i.  348. 


262  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1626-36. 

prompt  and  vehement  response  from  the  breast  of 
Madame  de  la  Peltrie.  Thenceforth  she  thought  of 
nothing  but  Canada.  In  the  midst  of  her  zeal,  a 
fever  seized  her.  The  physicians  despaired;  but  at 
the  height  of  the  disease  the  patient  made  a  vow  to 
St.  Joseph,  that,  should  God  restore  her  to  health, 
she  would  build  a  house  in  honor  of  Him  in  Canada, 
and  give  her  life  and  her  wealth  to  the  instruction  of 
Indian  girls.  On  the  following  morning,  say  her 
biographers,  the  fever  had  left  her. 

Meanwhile  her  relatives,  or  those  of  her  husband, 
had  confirmed  her  pious  purposes  by  attempting  to 
thwart  them.  They  pronounced  her  a  romantic  vis- 
ionary, incompetent  to  the  charge  of  her  property. 
Her  father,  too,  whose  fondness  for  her  increased 
with  his  advancing  age,  entreated  her  to  remain  with 
him  while  he  lived,  and  to  defer  the  execution  of  her 
plans  till  he  should  be  laid  in  his  grave.  From  en- 
treaties he  passed  to  commands,  and  at  length  threat- 
ened to  disinherit  her  if  she  persisted.  The  virtue  of 
obedience,  for  which  she  is  extolled  by  her  clerical 
biographers,  however  abundantly  exhibited  in  respect 
to  those  who  held  charge  of  her  conscience,  was  sing- 
ularly wanting  towards  the  parent  who  in  the  way  of 
Nature  had  the  best  claim  to  its  exercise;  and  Ma- 
dame de  la  Peltrie  was  more  than  ever  resolved  to 
go  to  Canada.  Her  father,  on  his  part,  was  urgent 
that  she  should  marry  again.  On  this  she  took  coun- 
sel of  a  Jesuit,1  who,  "having  seriously  reflected 

1  "  Partagee  ainsi  entre  1'amour  filial  et  la  religion,  en  proie  aux 
plus  poignantes  angoisses,  elle  s'adressa  &  un  religieux  de  la  Com- 


1638.]  A   SHAM  MARRIAGE.  263 

before  God,"  suggested  a  device,  which  to  the  hereti- 
cal mind  is  a  little  startling,  but  which  commended 
itself  to  Madame  de  la  Peltrie  as  fitted  at  once  to 
soothe  the  troubled  spirit  of  her  father,  and  to  save 
her  from  the  sin  involved  in  the  abandonment  of  her 
pious  designs. 

Among  her  acquaintance  was  M.  de  Bernieres,  a 
gentleman  of  high  rank,  great  wealth,  and  zealous 
devotion.  She  wrote  to  him,  explained  the  situa- 
tion, and  requested  him  to  feign  a  marriage  with  her. 
His  sense  of  honor  recoiled:  moreover,  in  the  fulness 
of  his  zeal,  he  had  made  a  vow  of  chastity,  and  an 
apparent  breach  of  it  would  cause  scandal.  He  con- 
sulted his  spiritual  director  and  a  few  intimate 
friends.  All  agreed  that  the  glory  of  God  was  con- 
cerned, and  that  it  behooved  him  to  accept  the  some- 
what singular  overtures  of  the  young  widow,1  and 
request  her  hand  from  her  father.  M.  de  Chauvigny, 
who  greatly  esteemed  Bernieres,  was  delighted ;  and 
his  delight  was  raised  to  transport  at  the  dutiful  and 
modest  acquiescence  of  his  daughter.2  A  betrothal 


pagnie  de  Jesus,  dont  elle  connaissait  la  prudence  consommee,  et  le 
supplia  de  1'eclairer  de  ses  lumieres.  Ce  religieux,  apres  y  avoir 
serieusement  refle'chi  devant  Dieu,  lui  re'pondit  qu'il  croyait  avoir 
trouve  un  moyen  de  tout  concilier."  —  Casgrain,  Vie  de  Marie 
de  I' Incarnation,  243. 

1  Enfin  apres  avoir  longtemps  implore  les  lumieres  du  ciel,  il 
remit  toute  1'affaire  entre  les  mains  de  son  directeur  et  de  quelques 
amis  intimes.    Tous,  d'un  cornmun  accord,  lui  declarerent   que   la 
gloire   de   Dieu  y  etait    interessee,  et   qu'il   devait    accepter."  — 
Ibid.,  244. 

2  "  The  prudent  young  widow  answered  him  with  much  respect 


264  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1638. 

took  place ;  all  was  harmony,  and  for  a  time  no  more 
was  said  of  disinheriting  Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  or 
putting  her  in  wardship. 

Bernidres's  scruples  returned.  Divided  between 
honor  and  conscience,  he  postponed  the  marriage, 
until  at  length  M.  de  Chauvigny  conceived  misgiv- 
ings, and  again  began  to  speak  of  disinheriting  his 
daughter  unless  the  engagement  was  fulfilled.1  Ber" 
nieres  yielded,  and  went  with  Madame  de  la  Peltrie 
to  consult  "the  most  eminent  divines."3  A  sham 
marriage  took  place,  and  she  and  her  accomplice  ap- 
peared in  public  as  man  and  wife.  Her  relatives, 
however,  had  already  renewed  their  attempts  to  de- 
prive her  of  the  control  of  her  property.  A  suit,  of 
what  nature  does  not  appear,  had  been  decided 
against  her  at  Caen,  and  she  had  appealed  to  the 
Parliament  of  Normandy.  Her  lawyers  were  in  de- 
spair; but,  as  her  biographer  justly  observes,  "the 
saints  have  resources  which  others  have  not."  A 

and  modesty,  that,  as  she  knew  M.  de  Bernieres  to  be  a  favorite 
with  him,  she  also  preferred  him  to  all  others." 

The  above  is  from  a  letter  of  Marie  de  1'Incarnation,  translated 
by  Mother  St.  Thomas,  of  the  Ursuline  convent  of  Quebec,  in  her 
Life  of  Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  41.  Compare  Les  Ursulines  de  Quebec, 
10,  and  the  "  Notice  Biographique  "  in  the  same  volume. 

1  "  Our  virtuous  widow  did  not  lose  courage.    As  she  had  given 
her  confidence  to  M.  de  Bernieres,  she  informed  him  of  all  that 
passed,  while  she  flattered  her  father  each  day,  telling  him  that 
this  nobleman  was  too  honorable  to  fail  in  keeping  his  word."  — 
St.  Thomas,  Life  of  Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  42. 

2  "  He  [Bernieres]  went  to  stay  at  the  house  of  a  mutual  friend, 
where  they  had  frequent  opportunities  of  seeing  each  other,  and 
consulting  the  most  eminent  divines  on  the  means  of  effecting  this 
pretended  marriage."  —  Ibid.,  43. 


1639.]          DEATH  OF  M.  DE  CHAUVIGNY.  265 

vow  to  St.  Joseph  secured  his  intercession  and  gained 
her  case.  Another  thought  now  filled  her  with  agi- 
tation. Her  plans  were  laid,  and  the  time  of  action 
drew  near.  How  could  she  endure  the  distress  of 
her  father,  when  he  learned  that  she  had  deluded 
him  with  a  false  marriage,  and  that  she  and  all  that 
was  hers  were  bound  for  the  wilderness  of  Canada? 
Happily  for  him,  he  fell  ill,  and  died  in  ignorance 
of  the  deceit  that  had  been  practised  upon  him. 1 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  quality  of  Ma- 
dame de  la  Peltrie's  devotion,  there  can  be  no  rea- 
sonable doubt  of  its  sincerity  or  its  ardor;  and  yet 
one  can  hardly  fail  to  see  in  her  the  signs  of  that 
restless  longing  for  eclat,  which  with  some  women 

i  It  will  be  of  interest  to  observe  the  view  taken  of  this  pre- 
tended marriage  by  Madame  de  la  Peltrie's  Catholic  biographers. 
Charlevoix  tells  the  story  without  comment,  but  with  apparent 
approval.  Sainte-Foi,  in  his  Premieres  Ursulines  de  France,  says, 
that,  as  God  had  taken  her  under  His  guidance,  we  should  not  ven- 
ture to  criticise  her.  Casgrain,  in  his  Vie  de  Marie  de  I' Incarnation, 
p.  247,  remarks  :  — 

"Une  telle  conduite  peut  encore  aujourd'hui  paraitre  etrange  a 
bien  des  personnes ;  mais  outre  que  1'avenir  fit  bien  voir  que  c'e'tait 
une  inspiration  du  ciel,  nous  pouvons  re'pondre,  avec  un  savant  et 
pieux  auteur,  que  nous  ne  devons  point  juger  ceux  que  Dieu  se 
charge  lui-meme  de  conduire." 

Mother  St.  Thomas  highly  approves  the  proceeding,  and  says  :  — 

"  Thus  ended  the  pretended  engagement  of  this  virtuous  lady 
and  gentleman,  which  caused,  at  the  time,  so  much  inquiry  and 
excitement  among  the  nobility  in  France,  and  which,  after  a  lapse 
of  two  hundred  years,  cannot  fail  exciting  feelings  of  admiration 
in  the  heart  of  every  virtuous  woman ! " 

Surprising  as  it  may  appear,  the  book  from  which  the  above  is 
taken  was  written  a  few  years  since,  in  so-called  English,  for  the 
instruction  of  the  pupils  in  the  Ursuline  Convent  at  Quebec. 


266  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1639. 

is  a  ruling  passion.  When,  in  company  with  Ber- 
nie'res,  she  passed  from  Alencon  to  Tours,  and  from 
Tours  to  Paris,  an  object  of  attention  to  nuns, 
priests,  and  prelates,  —  when  the  Queen  herself  sum- 
moned her  to  an  interview,  —  it  may  be  that  the  pro- 
found contentment  of  soul  ascribed  to  her  had  its 
origin  in  sources  not  exclusively  of  the  spirit.  At 
Tours,  she  repaired  to  the  Ursuline  convent.  The 
Superior  and  all  the  nuns  met  her  at  the  entrance  of 
the  cloister,  and,  separating  into  two  rows  as  she 
appeared,  sang  the  Veni  Creator,  while  the  bell  of 
the  monastery  sounded  its  loudest  peal.  Then  they 
led  her  in  triumph  to  their  church,  sang  Te  Deum, 
and,  while  the  honored  guest  knelt  before  the  altar, 
all  the  sisterhood  knelt  around  her  in  a  semicircle. 
Their  hearts  beat  high  within  them.  That  day  they 
were  to  know  who  of  their  number  were  chosen  for 
the  new  convent  of  Quebec,  of  which  Madame  de  la 
Peltrie  was  to  be  the  foundress ;  and  when  their  de- 
votions were  over,  they  flung  themselves  at  her  feet, 
each  begging  with  tears  that  the  lot  might  fall  on  her. 
Aloof  from  this  throng  of  enthusiastic  suppliants 
stood  a  young  nun,  Marie  de  St.  Bernard,  too  timid 
and  too  modest  to  ask  the  boon  for  which  her  fervent 
heart  was  longing.  It  was  granted  without  asking. 
This  delicate  girl  was  chosen,  and  chosen  wisely.1 

i  Casgrain,  Vie  de  Marie  de  V Incarnation,  271-273.  There  is  a 
long  account  of  Marie  de  St.  Bernard,  by  Ragueneau,  in  the  Rela- 
tion of  1652.  Here  it  is  said  that  she  showed  an  unaccountable 
indifference  as  to  whether  she  went  to  Canada  or  not,  which,  how- 
ever, was  followed  by  an  ardent  desire  to  go. 


Marie  de  V Incarnation. 


id  its' 


1620-38.]         MARIE  DE   L'INCARNATION.  267 

There  was  another  nun  who  stood  apart,  silent  and 
motionless,  —  a  stately  figure,  with  features  strongly 
marked  and  perhaps  somewhat  masculine ; 1  but,  if 
so,  they  belied  her,  for  Marie  de  1'Incarnation  was  a 
woman  to  the  core.  For  her  there  was  no  need  of 
entreaties;  for  she  knew  that  the  Jesuits  had  made 
her  their  choice,  as  Superior  of  the  new  convent. 
She  was  born,  forty  years  before,  at  Tours,  of  a  good 
bourgeois  family.  As  she  grew  up  towards  maturity, 
her  qualities  soon  declared  themselves.  She  had 
uncommon  talents  and  strong  religious  susceptibili- 
ties, joined  to  a  vivid  imagination,  —  an  alliance  not 
always  desirable  under  a  form  of  faith  where  both  are 
excited  by  stimulants  so  many  and  so  powerful. 
Like  Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  she  married,  at  the  de- 
sire of  her  parents,  in  her  eighteenth  year.  The  mar- 
riage was  not  happy.  Her  biographers  say  that  there 
was  no  fault  on  either  side.  Apparently,  it  was  a 
severe  case  of  "incompatibility."  She  sought  her 
consolation  in  the  churches;  and  kneeling  in  dim 
chapels,  held  communings  with  Christ  and  the  an- 
gels. At  the  end  of  two  years  her  husband  died, 
leaving  her  with  an  infant  son.  She  gave  him  to  the 
charge  of  her  sister,  abandoned  herself  to  solitude 
and  meditation,  and  became  a  mystic  of  the  intense 
and  passional  school.  Yet  a  strong  maternal  instinct 

1  There  is  an  engraved  portrait  of  her,  taken  some  years  later,  of 
which  a  photograph  is  before  me.  When  she  was  "  in  the  world," 
her  stately  proportions  are  said  to  have  attracted  general  attention. 
Her  family  name  was  Marie  Guyard.  She  was  born  on  the  eighteenth 
of  October,  1599. 


268  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1620-38. 

battled  painfully  in  her  breast  with  a  sense  of  reli- 
gious vocation.  Dreams,  visions,  interior  voices, 
ecstasies,  revulsions,  periods  of  rapture  and  periods 
of  deep  dejection,  made  up  the  agitated  tissue  of  her 
life.  She  fasted,  wore  hair-cloth,  scourged  herself, 
washed  dishes  among  the  servants,  and  did  their 
most  menial  work.  She  heard,  in  a  trance,  a  mirac- 
ulous voice.  It  was  that  of  Christ,  promising  to 
become  her  spouse.  Months  and  years  passed,  full 
of  troubled  hopes  and  fears,  when  again  the  voice 
sounded  in  her  ear,  with  assurance  that  the  promise 
was  fulfilled,  and  that  she  was  indeed  his  bride. 
Now  ensued  phenomena  which  are  not  infrequent 
among  Roman  Catholic  female  devotees  when  unmar- 
ried, or  married  unhappily,  and  which  have  their 
source  in  the  necessities  of  a  woman's  nature.  To 
her  excited  thought  her  divine  spouse  became  a  liv- 
ing presence;  and  her  language  to  him,  as  recorded 
by  herself,  is  that  of  the  most  intense  passion.  She 
went  to  prayer,  agitated  and  tremulous,  as  if  to  a 
meeting  with  an  earthly  lover.  "O  my  Love!  "  she 
exclaimed,  "when  shall  I  embrace  you?  Have  you 
no  pity  on  me  in  the  torments  that  I  suffer  ?  Alas ! 
alas !  my  Love,  my  Beauty,  my  Life !  instead  of  heal- 
ing my  pain,  you  take  pleasure  in  it.  Come,  let  me 
embrace  you,  and  die  in  your  sacred  arms ! "  And 
again  she  writes :  "  Then,  as  I  was  spent  with  fatigue, 
I  was  forced  to  say,  '  My  divine  Love,  since  you  wish 
me  to  live,  I  pray  you  let  me  rest  a  little,  that  I  may 
the  better  serve  you ; '  and  I  promised  him  that  after- 


1620-38.]  DEJECTION.  269 

ward  I  would  suffer  myself  to  consume  in  his  chaste 
and  divine  embraces."1 

Clearly,  here  is  a  case  for  the  physiologist  as  well 
as  the  theologian;  and  the  "holy  widow,"  as  her 
biographers  call  her,  becomes  an  example,  and  a 
lamentable  one,  of  the  tendency  of  the  erotic  princi- 
ple to  ally  itself  with  high  religious  excitement. 

But  the  wings  of  imagination  will  tire  and  droop, 
the  brightest  dream-land  of  contemplative  fancy  grow 

i  "Allant  a  1'oraison,  je  tressaillois  en  moi-meme,  et  disois : 
Allons  dans  la  solitude,  mon  cher  amour,  afln  que  je  vous  embrasse 
a  mon  aise,  et  que,  respirant  mon  ame  en  vous,  elle  ne  soit  plus  que 
vous-meme  par  union  d'amour.  .  .  .  Puis,  mon  corps  etant  brise  de 
fatigues,  j'etois  contrainte  de  dire :  Mon  divin  amour,  je  vous  prie 
de  me  laisser  prendre  un  peu  de  repos,  afin  que  je  puisse  mieux  vous 
servir,  puisque  vous  voulez  que  je  vive.  .  .  .  Je  le  priois  de  me 
laisser  agir ;  lui  promettant  de  me  laisser  apres  cela  consumer  dans 
ses  chastes  et  divins  embrassemens.  .  .  .  O  amour !  quand  vous 
embrasserai-je  ?  N'avez-vous  point  pitie'  de  moi  dans  le  tourment 
que  je  souffre  ?  helas  !  helas !  mon  amour,  ma  beaute,  ma  vie !  au 
lieu  de  me  guerir,  vous  vous  plaisez  a  mes  maux.  Venez  done  que 
je  vous  embrasse,  et  que  je  meure  entre  vos  bras  sacrez!" 

The  above  passages,  from  various  pages  of  her  journal,  will 
suffice,  though  they  give  but  an  inadequate  idea  of  these  strange 
extravagances.  What  is  most  astonishing  is,  that  a  man  of  sense 
like  Charlevoix,  in  his  Life  of  Marie  de  I' Incarnation,  should 
extract  them  in  full,  as  matter  of  edification  and  evidence  of  saint- 
ship.  Her  recent  biographer,  the  Abbe"  Casgrain,  refrains  from 
quoting  them,  though  he  mentions  them  approvingly  as  evincing 
fervor.  The  Abbe  Racine,  in  his  Discours  a  /'Occasion  du  192eme 
Anniversaire  de  I'heureuse  Mart  de  la  Ven.  Mere  de  I' Incarnation, 
delivered  at  Quebec  in  1864,  speaks  of  them  as  transcendent  proofs 
of  the  supreme  favor  of  Heaven.  Some  of  the  pupils  of  Marie  de 
1'Incarnation  also  had  mystical  marriages  with  Christ;  and  the 
impassioned  rhapsodies  of  one  of  them  being  overheard,  she  nearly 
lost  her  character,  as  it  was  thought  that  she  was  apostrophizing 
an  earthly  lover. 


270  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1620-38. 

dim,  and  an  abnormal  tension  of  the  faculties  find  its 
inevitable  reaction  at  last.  From  a  condition  of 
highest  exaltation,  a  mystical  heaven  of  light  and 
glory,  the  unhappy  dreamer  fell  back  to  a  dreary 
earth,  or  rather  to  an  abyss  of  darkness  and  misery. 
Her  biographers  tell  us  that  she  became  a  prey  to 
dejection,  and  to  thoughts  of  infidelity,  despair, 
estrangement  from  God,  aversion  to  mankind,  pride, 
vanity,  impurity,  and  a  supreme  disgust  at  the  rites 
of  religion.  Exhaustion  produced  common-sense, 
and  the  dreams  which  had  been  her  life  now  seemed 
a  tissue  of  illusions.  Her  confessor  became  a  weari- 
ness to  her,  and  his  words  fell  dead  on  her  ear. 
Indeed,  she  conceived  a  repugnance  to  the  holy  man. 
Her  old  and  favorite  confessor,  her  oracle,  guide,  and 
comforter,  had  lately  been  taken  from  her  by  promo- 
tion in  the  Church,  —  which  may  serve  to  explain  her 
dejection;  and  the  new  one,  jealous  of  his  predecessor, 
told  her  that  all  his  counsels  had  been  visionary  and 
dangerous  to  her  soul.  Having  overwhelmed  her  with 
this  announcement,  he  left  her,  apparently  out  of 
patience  with  her  refractory  and  gloomy  mood ;  and 
she  remained  for  several  months  deprived  of  spiritual 
guidance.1  Two  years  elapsed  before  her  mind  re- 
covered its  tone,  when  she  soared  once  more  in  the 
seventh  heaven  of  imaginative  devotion. 

Marie  de  1' Incarnation,  we  have  seen,  was  unre- 
lenting in  every  practice  of  humiliation,  —  dressed 
in  mean  attire,  did  the  servants'  work,  nursed  sick 
1  Casgrain,  195-197. 


1620-38.]     IMMURED  WITH   THE   URSULINES.       271 

beggars,  and,  in  her  meditations,  taxed  her  brain 
with  metaphysical  processes  of  self-annihilation.  And 
yet  when  one  reads  her  "Spiritual  Letters,"  the  con- 
viction of  an  enormous  spiritual  pride  in  the  writer 
can  hardly  be  repressed.  She  aspired  to  that  inner 
circle  of  the  faithful,  that  aristocracy  of  devotion, 
which,  while  the  common  herd  of  Christians  are  bus- 
ied with  the  duties  of  life,  eschews  the  visible  and 
the  present,  and  claims  to  live  only  for  God.  In  her 
strong  maternal  affection  she  saw  a  lure  to  divert 
her  from  the  path  of  perfect  saintship.  Love  for  her 
child  long  withheld  her  from  becoming  a  nun;  but 
at  last,  fortified  by  her  confessor,  she  left  him  to  his 
fate,  took  the  vows,  and  immured  herself  with  the 
Ursulines  of  Tours.  The  boy,  frenzied  by  his  deser- 
tion, and  urged  on  by  indignant  relatives,  watched 
his  opportunity,  and  made  his  way  into  the  refectory 
of  the  convent,  screaming  to  the  horrified  nuns  to 
give  him  back  his  mother.  As  he  grew  older,  her 
anxiety  increased;  and  at  length  she  heard  in  her 
seclusion  that  he  had  fallen  into  bad  company,  had 
left  the  relative  who  had  sheltered  him,  and  run  off, 
no  one  knew  whither.  The  wretched  mother,  torn 
with  anguish,  hastened  for  consolation  to  her  con- 
fessor, who  met  her  with  stern  upbraidings.  Yet 
even  in  this  her  intensest  ordeal  her  enthusiasm  and 
her  native  fortitude  enabled  her  to  maintain  a  sem- 
blance of  calmness,  till  she  learned  that  the  boy  had 
been  found  and  brought  back. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  woman,  whose  habit- 


272  DEVOTEES   AND  NUNS.  [1620-38. 

ual  state  was  one  of  mystical  abstraction,  was  gifted 
to  a  rare  degree  with  the  faculties  most  useful  in  the 
practical  affairs  of  life.  She  had  spent  several  years 
in  the  house  of  her  "brother-in-law.  Here,  on  the  one 
hand,  her  vigils,  visions,  and  penances  set  utterly  at 
naught  the  order  of  a  well-governed  family;  while, 
on  the  other,  she  made  amends  to  her  impatient  rela- 
tive by  able  and  efficient  aid  in  the  conduct  of  his 
public  and  private  affairs.  Her  biographers  say,  and 
doubtless  with  truth,  that  her  heart  was  far  away 
from  these  mundane  interests ;  yet  her  talent  for  busi- 
ness was  not  the  less  displayed.  Her  spiritual  guides 
were  aware  of  it,  and  saw  clearly  that  gifts  so  useful 
to  the  world  might  be  made  equally  useful  to  the 
Church.  Hence  it  was  that  she  was  chosen  Superior 
of  the  convent  which  Madame  de  la  Peltrie  was  about 
to  endow  at  Quebec.1 

Yet  it  was  from  heaven  itself  that  Marie  de  1'In- 
carnation  received  her  first  "vocation"  to  Canada. 
The  miracle  was  in  this  wise. 

In  a  dream  she  beheld  a  lady  unknown  to  her. 
She  took  her  hand ;  and  the  two  journeyed  together 
westward,  towards  the  sea.  They  soon  met  one  of 
the  Apostles,  clothed  all  in  white,  who,  with  a  wave 
of  his  hand,  directed  them  on  their  way.  They  now 
entered  on  a  scene  of  surpassing  magnificence.  Be- 
neath their  feet  was  a  pavement  of  squares  of  white 

1  The  combination  of  religious  enthusiasm,  however  extravagant 
and  visionary,  with  a  talent  for  business,  is  not  very  rare.  Nearly 
all  the  founders  of  monastic  Orders  are  examples  of  it. 


1620-38.]  A  VISION.  273 

marble,  spotted  with  vermilion,  and  intersected  with 
lines  of  vivid  scarlet;  and  all  around  stood  monas- 
teries of  matchless  architecture.  But  the  two  trav- 
ellers, without  stopping  to  admire,  moved  swiftly  on 
till  they  beheld  the  Virgin  seated  with  her  Infant 
Son  on  a  small  temple  of  white  marble,  which  served 
her  as  a  throne.  She  seemed  about  fifteen  years  of 
age,  and  was  of  a  "ravishing  beauty."  Her  head  was 
turned  aside ;  she  was  gazing  fixedly  on  a  wild  waste 
of  mountains  and  valleys,  half  concealed  in  mist. 
Marie  de  1'Incarnation  approached  with  outstretched 
arms,  adoring.  The  vision  bent  towards  her,  and, 
smiling,  kissed  her  three  times ;  whereupon,  in  a  rap- 
ture, the  dreamer  awoke.1 

She  told  the  vision  to  Father  Dinet,  a  Jesuit  of 
Tours.  He  was  at  no  loss  for  an  interpretation. 
The  land  of  mists  and  mountains  was  Canada,  and 
thither  the  Virgin  called  her.  Yet  one  mystery  re- 
mained unsolved.  Who  was  the  unknown  companion 
of  her  dream?  Several  years  had  passed,  and  signs 
from  heaven  and  inward  voices  had  raised  to  an  in- 
tense fervor  her  zeal  for  her  new  vocation,  when,  for 
the  first  time,  she  saw  Madame  de  la  Peltrie  on  her 
visit  to  the  convent  at  Tours,  and  recognized,  on  the 
instant,  the  lady  of  her  nocturnal  vision.  No  one  can 
be  surprised  at  this  who  has  considered  with  the  slight- 
est attention  the  phenomena  of  religious  enthusiasm. 

1  Marie  de  1'Incarnation  recounts  this  dream  at  great  length  in 
her  letters,  and  Casgrain  copies  the  whole,  verbatim,  as  a  revelation 
from  God. 

VOL.  i.  — 18 


274  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1639. 

On  the  fourth  of  May,  1639,  Madame  de  la  Pel- 
trie,  Marie  de  1' Incarnation,  Marie  de  St.  Bernard, 
and  another  Ursuline  embarked  at  Dieppe  for  Can- 
ada. In  the  ship  were  also  three  young  hospital 
nuns,  sent  out  to  found  at  Quebec  a  Hotel-Dieu, 
endowed  by  the  famous  niece  of  Richelieu,  the  Du- 
chesse  d'Aiguillon.1  Here,  too,  were  the  Jesuits 
Chaumonot  and  Poncet,  on  the  way  to  their  mission, 
together  with  Father  Vimont,  who  was  to  succeed 
Le  Jeune  in  his  post  of  Superior.  To  the  nuns,  pale 
from  their  cloistered  seclusion,  there  was  a  strange 
and  startling  novelty  in  this  new  world  of  life  and 
action,  —  the  ship,  the  sailors,  the  shouts  of  com- 
mand, the  flapping  of  sails,  the  salt  wind,  and  the 
boisterous  sea.  The  voyage  was  long  and  tedious. 
Sometimes  they  lay  in  their  berths,  sea-sick  and 
woe-begone ;  sometimes  they  sang  in  choir  on  deck, 
or  heard  mass  in  the  cabin.  Once,  on  a  misty 
morning,  a  wild  cry  of  alarm  startled  crew  and  pas- 
sengers alike.  A  huge  iceberg  was  drifting  close 
upon  them.  The  peril  was  extreme.  Madame  de  la 
Peltrie  clung  to  Marie  de  1'Incarnation,  who  stood 
perfectly  calm,  and  gathered  her  gown  about  her  feet 
that  she  might  drown  with  decency.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  they  were  saved  by  a  vow  to  the 
Virgin  and  St.  Joseph.  Vimont  offered  it  in  behalf 
of  all  the  company,  and  the  ship  glided  into  the  open 
sea  unharmed. 

They  arrived  at  Tadoussac  on  the  fifteenth  of  July; 

1  Juchereau,  Histoire  de  I' Hotel-Dieu  de  Quebec,  4. 


1639.]  BRULART   DE  SILLERY.  275 

and  the  nuns  ascended  to  Quebec  in  a  small  craft 
deeply  laden  with  salted  codfish,  on  which,  uncooked, 
they  subsisted  until  the  first  of  August,  when  they 
reached  their  destination.  Cannon  roared  welcome 
from  the  fort  and  batteries;  all  labor  ceased;  the 
storehouses  were  closed;  and  the  zealous  Mont- 
magny,  with  a  train  of  priests  and  soldiers,  met  the 
new-comers  at  the  landing.  All  the  nuns  fell  pros- 
trate, and  kissed  the  sacred  soil  of  Canada.1  They 
heard  mass  at  the  church,  dined  at  the  fort,  and  pres- 
ently set  forth  to  visit  the  new  settlement  of  Sillery, 
four  miles  above  Quebec. 

Noel  Brulart  de  Sillery,  a  Knight  of  Malta,  who 
had  once  filled  the  highest  offices  under  the  Queen 
Marie  de  Me"dicis,  had  now  severed  his  connection 
with  his  Order,  renounced  the  world,  and  become  a 
priest.  He  devoted  his  vast  revenues  —  for  a  dispen- 
sation of  the  Pope  had  freed  him  from  his  vow  of 
poverty  —  to  the  founding  of  religious  establish- 
ments.2 Among  other  endowments,  he  had  placed 
an  ample  fund  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits  for  the 
formation  of  a  settlement  of  Christian  Indians  at  the 
spot  which  still  bears  his  name.  On  the  strand  of 
Sillery,  between  the  river  and  the  woody  heights 

1  Juchereau,  14 ;  Le  Clerc,  ii.  33 ;  Eagueneau,  Vie  de  Catherine 
de  St.  Auyustin,  "  Epistre  dedicatoire ; "   Le  Jeune,  Relation,  1639, 
chap.  ii. ;  Charlevoix,  Vie  de  Marie  de  I' Incarnation,  264 ;  "  Acte  de 
Reception,"  in  Les  Ursulines  de  Quebec,  i.  21. 

2  See  Vie  de  I'lllustre  Serviteur  de  Dieu  Noel  Brulart  de  Sillery ; 
also  Etudes  et  Recherches  Biographiques  sur  le  Chevalier  Noel  Brulart 
de  Sillery,  and  several  documents  in  Martin's  translation  of  Bressani, 
Appendix  IV. 


276  DEVOTEES   AND  NUNS.  [1639-42. 

behind,  were  clustered  the  small  log-cabins  of  a  num- 
ber of  Algonquin  converts,  together  with  a  church, 
a  mission-house,  and  an  infirmary,  —  the  whole  sur- 
rounded by  a  palisade.  It  was  to  this  place  that  the 
six  nuns  were  now  conducted  by  the  Jesuits.  The 
scene  delighted  and  edified  them;  and,  in  the  trans- 
ports of  their  zeal,  they  seized  and  kissed  every  fe- 
male Indian  child  on  whom  they  could  lay  hands, 
"without  minding,"  says  Father  Le  Jeune,  "whether 
they  were  dirty  or  not. "  "  Love  and  charity, "  he  adds, 
"triumphed  over  every  human  consideration."1 

The  nuns  of  the  Hotel-Dieu  soon  after  took  up 
their  abode  at  Sillery,  whence  they  removed  to  a 
house  built  for  them  at  Quebec  by  their  foundress, 
the  Duchesse  d'Aiguillon.  The  Ursulines,  in  the 
absence  of  better  quarters,  were  lodged  at  first  in  a 
small  wooden  tenement  under  the  rock  of  Quebec,  at 
the  brink  of  the  river.  Here  they  were  soon  beset 
with  such  a  host  of  children  that  the  floor  of  their 
wretched  tenement  was  covered  with  beds,  and  their 
toil  had  no  respite.  Then  came  the  small-pox,  carry- 
ing death  and  terror  among  the  neighboring  Indians. 
These  thronged  to  Quebec  in  misery  and  desperation, 
begging  succor  from  the  French.  The  labors  both  of 
the  Ursulines  and  of  the  hospital  nuns  were  prodi- 
gious. In  the  infected  air  of  their  miserable  hovels, 
where  sick  and  dying  savages  covered  the  floor,  and 

1  "...  sans  prendre  garde  si  ces  petits  enfans  sauvages  estoient 
gales  ou  non;  ...  la  loy  d'amour  et  de  charite  1'emportoit  par 
dessus  toutes  lea  considerations  humaines."  —  Relation,  1639,  26 
(Cramoisy). 


1639-42.]  SISTER  ST.  JOSEPH.  277 

were  packed  one  above  another  in  berths,  —  amid  all 
that  is  most  distressing  and  most  revolting,  with  lit- 
tle food  and  less  sleep,  these  women  passed  the  rough 
beginning  of  their  new  life.  Several  of  them  fell  ill. 
But  the  excess  of  the  evil  at  length  brought  relief; 
for  so  many  of  the  Indians  died  in  these  pest-houses 
that  the  survivors  shunned  them  in  horror. 

But  how  did  these  women  bear  themselves  amid 
toils  so  arduous  ?  A  pleasant  record  has  come  down 
to  us  of  one  of  them,  —  that  fair  and  delicate  girl, 
Marie  de  St.  Bernard,  called  in  the  convent  Sister 
St.  Joseph,  who  had  been  chosen  at  Tours  as  the 
companion  of  Marie  de  I'lncarnation.  Another  Ursu- 
line,  writing  at  a  period  when  the  severity  of  their 
labors  was  somewhat  relaxed,  says,  "Her  disposition 
is  charming.  In  our  times  of  recreation,  she  often 
makes  us  cry  with  laughing :  it  would  be  hard  to  be 
melancholy  when  she  is  near."1 

It  was  three  years  later  before  the  Ursulines  and 
their  pupils  took  possession  of  a  massive  convent  of 
stone,  built  for  them  on  the  site  which  they  still 
occupy.  Money  had  failed  before  the  work  was 
done,  and  the  interior  was  as  unfinished  as  a  barn.2 
Beside  the  cloister  stood  a  large  ash-tree;  and  it 

1  Lettre  de  la  Mere  Ste  Claire  a  une  de  ses  Sceurs  Ursulines  de  Paris, 
Quebec,  2  Sept.,  1640.     See  Les  Ursulines  de  Quebec,  i.  38. 

2  The  interior  was  finished  after  a  year  or  two,  with  cells  as 
usual.    There  were  four  chimneys,  with  fireplaces  burning  a  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  cords  of  wood  in  a  winter ;  and  though  the 
nuns  were  boxed  up  in  beds  which  closed  like  chests,  Marie  de 
I'lncarnation  complains  bitterly  of  the  cold.     See  her  letter  of  Aug. 
26,  1644. 


278  DEVOTEES   AND  NUNS.  [1639-42. 

stands  there  still.  Beneath  its  shade,  says  the  con- 
vent tradition,  Marie  de  1' Incarnation  and  her  nuns 
instructed  the  Indian  children  in  the  truths  of  salva- 
tion; but  it  might  seem  rash  to  affirm  that  their 
teachings  were  always  either  wise  or  useful,  since 
Father  Vimont  tells  us  approvingly  that  they  reared 
their  pupils  in  so  chaste  a  horror  of  the  other  sex, 
that  a  little  girl,  whom  a  man  had  playfully  taken  by 
the  hand,  ran  crying  to  a  bowl  of  water  to  wash  off 
the  unhallowed  influence.1 

Now  and  henceforward  one  figure  stands  nobly 
conspicuous  in  this  devoted  sisterhood.  Marie  de 
1' Incarnation,  no  longer  lost  in  the  vagaries  of  an 
insane  mysticism,  but  engaged  in  the  duties  of  Chris- 
tian charity  and  the  responsibilities  of  an  arduous 
post,  displays  an  ability,  a  fortitude,  and  an  earnest- 
ness which  command  respect  and  admiration.  Her 
mental  intoxication  had  ceased,  or  recurred  only  at 
intervals;  and  false  excitements  no  longer  sustained 
her.  She  was  racked  with  constant  anxieties  about 
her  son,  and  was  often  in  a  condition  described  by 
her  biographers  as  a  "  deprivation  of  all  spiritual  con- 
solations." Her  position  was  a  very  difficult  one. 
She  herself  speaks  of  her  life  as  a  succession  of 
crosses  and  humiliations.  Some  of  these  were  due 
to  Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  who  in  a  freak  of  enthusi- 
asm abandoned  her  Ursulines  for  a  time,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  leaving  them  in  the  utmost  destitution. 
There  were  dissensions  to  be  healed  among  them; 

1  Vimont,  Relation,  1642,  112  (Cramoisy). 


1639-42.]     FOUNDRESS   OF  THE  URSULINES.         279 

and  money,  everything,  in  short,  to  be  provided. 
Marie  de  1' Incarnation,  in  her  saddest  moments, 
neither  failed  in  judgment  nor  slackened  in  effort. 
She  carried  on  a  vast  correspondence,  embracing 
every  one  in  France  who  could  aid  her  infant  com- 
munity with  money  or  influence;  she  harmonized 
and  regulated  it  with  excellent  skill;  and,  in  the 
midst  of  relentless  austerities,  she  was  loved  as  a 
mother  by  her  pupils  and  dependants.  Catholic 
writers  extol  her  as  a  saint.1  Protestants  may  see 
in  her  a  Christian  heroine,  admirable,  with  all  her 
follies  and  her  faults. 

The  traditions  of  the  Ursulines  are  full  of  the  vir- 
tues of  Madame  de  la  Peltrie,  —  her  humility,  her 
charity,  her  penances,  and  her  acts  of  mortification. 
No  doubt,  with  some  little  allowance,  these  traditions 
are  true ;  but  there  is  more  of  reason  than  of  unchari- 
tableness  in  the  belief,  that  her  zeal  would  have  been 
less  ardent  and  sustained  if  it  had  had  fewer  specta- 
tors. She  was  now  fairly  committed  to  the  conven- 
tual life,  her  enthusiasm  was  kept  within  prescribed 
bounds,  and  she  was  no  longer  mistress  of  her  own 
movements.  On  the  one  hand,  she  was  anxious  to 

1  There  is  a  letter  extant  from  Sister  Anne  de  Ste  Claire,  an 
Ursuline  who  came  to  Quebec  in  1640,  written  soon  after  her  arrival, 
and  containing  curious  evidence  that  a  reputation  of  saintship 
already  attached  to  Marie  de  I'lncarnation.  "  When  I  spoke  to 
her,"  writes  Sister  Anne,  speaking  of  her  first  interview,  "I  per- 
ceived in  the  air  a  certain  odor  of  sanctity,  which  gave  me  the  sen- 
sation of  an  agreeable  perfume."  See  the  letter  in  a  recent  Catholic 
work,  Les  Ursulines  de  Quebec,  i.  38,  where  the  passage  is  printed  in 
Italics,  as  worthy  the  especial  attention  of  the  pious  reader. 


280  DEVOTEES  AND  NUNS.  [1639-42. 

accumulate  merits  against  the  Day  of  Judgment; 
and,  on  the  other,  she  had  a  keen  appreciation  of  the 
applause  which  the  sacrifice  of  her  fortune  and  her 
acts  of  piety  had  gained  for  her.  Mortal  vanity  takes 
many  shapes.  Sometimes  it  arrays  itself  in  silk  and 
jewels;  sometimes  it  walks  in  sackcloth,  and  speaks 
the  language  of  self-abasement.  In  the  convent,  as 
in  the  world,  the  fair  devotee  thirsted  for  admiration. 
The  halo  of  saintship  glittered  in  her  eyes  like  a  dia- 
mond crown,  and  she  aspired  to  outshine  her  sisters 
in  humility.  She  was  as  sincere  as  Simeon  Stylites 
on  his  column;  and,  like  him,  found  encouragement 
and  comfort  in  the  gazing  and  wondering  eyes 
below.1 

1  Madame  de  la  Peltrie  died  in  her  convent  in  1671.  Marie  de 
1'Incarnation  died  the  following  year.  She  had  the  consolation  of 
knowing  that  her  son  had  fulfilled  her  ardent  wishes,  and  become  a 
priest. 


END   OF  VOL.  I. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRAR    FACILITY 


